Deafening Silence
by IvyScribbles02
Summary: He only heard a faint bump when he should have heard something a lot louder. Merlin's fears from the previous day came true as he sat there in bed trying to process it. The ringing had gone, but he still couldn't hear anything. OR Merlin gets injured in a fight and is rendered temporarily deaf. He doesn't want Arthur to find out, but he does anyway. Angst and hurt/comfort ahead.
1. A Temporary Setback

Merlin woke up in pain. Which at this point, he should have been used to when you consider his job. He moved to sit upright in his bed and rubbed his eyes, almost as if to check if he was dreaming. When he realised he wasn't, the young warlock snatched a book from his bedside table and threw it to the floor as hard as he could, grimacing at the result.

He only heard a faint bump when he should have heard something a lot louder. Merlin's fears from the previous day came true as he sat there in bed trying to process it.

The ringing had gone, but he still couldn't hear anything.

The day before, he, Arthur and the knights had gone on a hunting trip. Straying not too far from Camelot, they went simply to hunt any animals they could find and bring them home. What Merlin hadn't anticipated was that he'd come home with a serious problem.

They'd been caught off guard. Bandits appeared from behind every bush in sight as the group was sat having a break from all their hunting. Of course, Arthur and the knights swiftly brandished their swords and crossed theirs with the enemies, whilst Merlin got out of the way and defended himself the best he could. He wasn't an idiot; he was perfectly capable of defending himself with a sword despite what Arthur thought. He just wasn't as skilled with one as the King and his knights.

Although, Merlin was much more skilled than all of them in another way.

In between defending himself and trying not to lose his footing, Merlin saved Arthur and Gwaine from what would have been devastating, if not fatal, blows, trying his best to conceal his help each time. This worked on his friends, who became none the wiser after the hunting trip. But it failed to work on one particular bandit who had spotted the sorcerer from behind.

As Merlin locked swords with a man who was at least twice the size of him, the other bandit crept up behind him with a malicious grin on his face. Before Merlin had a chance to turn around, he'd been hit hard on the side of his head with the handle of a sword.

With a sharp cry of pain, Merlin hit the ground. He lay on his side and pressed his hand to his head, trying desperately to numb the pain. He wished to God that he could use his magic to help him numb it ever so slightly, but couldn't concentrate enough to do it.

The dirty-playing bandit raised his sword on the now defenseless man, ready to take his life. That would have been so if it wasn't for Gwaine, who, ironically, came up from behind the larger man who stood over Merlin and ran him through. Sending him toppling backward and hitting the ground twice as hard as Merlin.

Gwaine then engaged with a few more filthy bandits, taking down each one with ease, unintentionally leaving Merlin alone and in pain on the dirt whilst everyone else fought around him.

Once Arthur had noticed the state of his manservant, he made a B-line to him. Leaving behind a trail of dead bandits in the process. Upon reaching Merlin, he helped him to his feet and took him to rest against a tree where the pair witnessed Elyan and Percival finish off the last of the bandits.

"Are you alright?!" Arthur asked him, trying to mask the concern in his voice. Even if he'd succeeded in hiding it, Merlin wouldn't have heard him. All he could hear at that moment was sharp ringing as he looked down at the floor with his hand still touching his head.

When Arthur didn't get a response, he grabbed Merlin's shoulder and shook it. "Merlin, I said are you alright?" He asked again in a slightly quieter voice now that Sir Gwaine had appeared next to him, also concerned for Merlin.

Merlin looked up and stared at Arthur after he shook his shoulder, just managing to catch the final word off of Arthur's lips. He had come to terms with the fact that he could not hear much at that moment and thanked his lucky stars that he had some lipreading ability.

"Yeah, I'm alright." His response garnered Arthur and Gwaine to look at each other in doubt.

"Princess, he was hit hard over the head. I don't think he's as 'alright' as he says." Gwaine said to Arthur, who then looked back to his friend with a worried expression. Merlin was staring at something in the distance looking disorientated.

"Then this hunting trip is over."

Arthur and Gwaine helped Merlin to his feet.

"I can walk myself you know."

"Don't be a fool, Merlin. You're injured. Let us help you."

Of course, Merlin had no idea what Arthur said to him. He assumed he threw some kind of jab in there like he usually did. Before he knew it the three of them were at Merlin's horse. He gestured the fact that he could mount the horse without help and did so under the careful watch of Arthur and Gwaine.

Sirs Leon, Percival, and Elyan could see that Merlin had been injured by how he was acting. No jokes, no snide remarks and no protests about the sudden change of plan. Usually, Merlin would want to push on with any quest he'd been a part of. With that, the knights collectively determined that it was best to return to Camelot at this time, not only for Merlin's sake, but for Arthur's too.

On their way back to Camelot, the knights figured out that Morgana was likely behind the attack. Their discussions went unheard by Merlin, who spent most of the ride home trying to diagnose his own problem. His head was ringing like nothing he'd ever felt before. Sure, he could always hear clanging after training with Arthur, especially at times when he was more agitated, but he'd never felt like this. At one point Merlin started to feel faint but caught himself in time to save the embarrassment.

Arthur rode at the front to lead the way and watch out for other bandits. Before leaving, he had a quiet word with Gwaine to ride next to Merlin to keep an eye on him. Arthur would have normally had Merlin ride next to him but he knew he couldn't focus on their surroundings and Merlin at the same time.

Without any further attacks, the group finally returned Camelot. As they rode into the courtyard Merlin took note of how his condition hadn't gotten any better since they left, which he expected. He thought that this new ringing was only temporary, so temporary in fact that it would disappear by the same evening. Although, he needed to get his head checked by Gaius.

After dismounting his horse, Merlin approached Arthur and asked him if he could be excused to see Gaius, hoping he would say yes or else he'd have to do some major lipreading.

Luckily, Arthur agreed. Merlin was pretty sure he had said something along the lines of "Yes, of course." But it was probably more of a "Yes, you idiot. Be back soon."

Arthur watched as Merlin walked up the stairs to the castle and noticed his slow pace. He put it down to the heavy blow his friend had received, which only Gwaine had witnessed. He was worried about Merlin, though he would never admit it. The idiot was always injuring himself in someway but usually just stood up and got on with life. Merlin's disorientation after the battle lingered in Arthur's mind after dismissing the knights and whilst heading to his chambers…

…Until Sir Gwaine came out from apparently nowhere and approached Arthur in the castle halls.

"Let me know how he is yeah? He took quite the hit." He asked of Arthur, not caring that he was basically showing concern for a servant. Gwaine knew that Merlin was his friend and didn't care if he showed it.  
"I will, that is if he turns up at my chambers tonight." The King replied jokingly to his knight.

"Thanks, princess." With that, Gwaine took off to be with the other knights of the round table.

Merlin's walk to his own chambers was much more difficult. Everything looked as if it were spinning and the ringing was still going strong. Despite his idea from earlier about when it would stop, he couldn't help but think why it hadn't stopped yet, surely it had to stop by now? Or at least have gone down a little? Merlin was almost lost to his thoughts.

He'd finally reached the door to his and Gaius' chambers and extended his hand to open it, only for the door to open by itself. He jumped back slightly in shock as it opened more and Gwen stepped out of it clutching some tunics she had volunteered to wash for Gaius. Letting out a little yelp, which in turn made Gwen yelp.

"Oh! Merlin, I'm sorry! I didn't realise you were there! Or back even…when did you guys get back?"

Merlin could only comprehend the first few words that Gwen had said. Everything else was lost on him. Not wanting to upset Gwen, he put on a smile.

"S'okay, I'm fine. Uhm, I've got to go, sorry…" he said as honestly as he could, entering his chambers and shutting the door. "Damnit." He thought, knowing that he'd probably upset Gwen anyway. In truth, he didn't want her to become suspicious. He knew that if she did, she would tell Arthur.

Merlin didn't want Arthur to know at the time since he thought it was temporary. In other words, Merlin didn't think it was that big of a deal.

Gwen, on the other hand, was still outside, confused as ever. She thought of knocking and asking if Merlin was alright but then remembered that he seemingly had something to do. Gaius was inside, he would take care of him if something was wrong. She would pop by later and check on him then.  
Upon hearing the commotion outside his door, Gaius looked up from his workbench where he was grinding herbs and watched the whole thing. When Merlin entered and shut the door on Gwen, he had some questions for his ward.

"Merlin? What was that about? When did you get back?"

After living with Gaius for years now, the young warlock had become accustomed to his mentor's usual questions whenever he got back from somewhere. All Merlin heard from Gaius was a buzzing sound, which in itself was faint.

God, he must have been hit really hard. He was surprised he wasn't knocked out during the battle.

"A few minutes ago, I think." Was all Merlin said.

"You didn't answer my other question."

Now, Merlin had no idea what Gaius had said. Then he remembered what he had come down for, to check his head. And so, decided to just be honest with him.

He shook his head. "I can't hear you. There's just this ringing…"

"What?" Gaius looked with a confused expression at his ward. As if he hadn't heard Merlin correctly. "What do you mean?"

Merlin tried to read Gaius' lips but couldn't. He was becoming increasingly frustrated with himself.

"I can't hear you, Gaius. I got hit over the head with a sword. Everything's all fuzzy and there's this ringing sound I can't get rid of." Merlin said as he threw his bag down in frustration. He wasn't sure how loud he had spoken but judging from Gaius' face it must have been pretty loud.

He sighed and shook his head. "Sorry." Was all he could say.

Gaius walked up to the door where Merlin was standing and put an arm around his shoulders, with the other highlighting his workbench. He spoke slowly. "Right young man, on that bench. Let's see what you've done now."


	2. The Usual Routine

The door to Merlin's chambers flew upon at the hand of Gaius as he barged into the room bearing a worried expression. This frightened Merlin, who had no auditory warning of his doors usual creaking or Gaius' prominent footsteps from behind it.

"What on earth was that?" The old physician asked his ward rather loudly, the same ward who was still sat upright in bed looking startled. Merlin's distressed look made Gaius mellow a bit. Then, he noticed the book on the floor and put two and two together.

Before Gaius could say anything, Merlin had turned his gaze from him to look at the book, not saying a word. He was just…staring at it.

"Merlin…can you hear me at all?"

Truth be told, Merlin could hear Gaius, but his voice sounded like harsh buzzing to his ears, completely unintelligible. Merlin almost wished that he had the ringing back, at least then he could hear something. Something would have been better than nothing but buzzing when Gaius spoke to him.

"The ringing's gone, but now I just…I can't hear anything." Since Merlin couldn't hear himself, he spoke slower than usual and hesitated more. He hadn't even been awake long but knew his condition. Merlin could always hear birds outside his and Gaius' chambers in the morning, or the sound of people in the citadel, or even the sounds of Gaius working outside his door, which usually woke him up better than anything.

Gaius had treated deaf people before but had never had to live with one. He knew he would need to adapt their usual routine until Merlin regained his hearing but first figured that the boy needed something normal to start his day. That something was breakfast.

The older man approached Merlin and shook him on the shoulder, snapping him out of his fixation. "You need breakfast. Breakfast." He uttered slowly, placing emphasis on the last word hoping Merlin would lip-read it.  
Luckily for both of them, Merlin understood and rose to follow him to the table, wiping away a secret tear along with it. As the pair sat and ate what Gaius had prepared for them, Merlin reflected on the evening events of the day before. A day he wouldn't forget.

Gaius had diagnosed him with a serious head injury after he got back from the hunting trip with the knights and Arthur, which was obvious to anyone with a brain. Because his head was still ringing by the time Arthur was expecting Merlin in his chambers, Gaius had forbidden him to attend to his duties, citing he was in absolutely no condition to do so. Merlin obeyed, albeit reluctantly.

George was sent by Gaius in Merlin's place to see to the King last night.

*The night before*

Arthur was disappointed but not surprised when George appeared from behind his chamber door. He knew immediately that it couldn't be Merlin, as this person knocked before entering. Merlin would never do that; it just wasn't in his nature.

"My sincerest apologies, your majesty." George had started once he'd closed the door. "I've been sent by Gaius in the place of your usual manservant, Merlin. He told me to inform you that he has a head injury, but should be able to resume his normal duties in the morning." The much more proper servant told his King.

Hearing that Merlin may be back by the morning, Arthur felt a sense of relief. That must have meant he was okay, even if the idiot wasn't here right now to attend his duties. Arthur tried to mask his obvious relief at George's words, simply replying "That's good, George. Would you get me some dinner?"

"Of course, Sire." George had said with a bow, turning on his heels to the door to fetch the King's dinner.

Arthur walked aimlessly around his chambers, deep in thought. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't stop thinking about Merlin. He tried to hide the image of his best friend laying on the ground with the filthy bandit towering over him, ready to take his life. He tried to unsee Merlin laying there, head in his hands and in pain. He didn't deserve to be in pain, Arthur thought, but he'd never admit it out loud. Arthur should have been there to protect him, but he'd failed.

George returned ten minutes later with his food, the same time that Arthur had made a decision.

"Start a fire while I'm gone. I'm going to visit Gaius." What Arthur wanted to say was "I'm going to see Merlin; I'm worried about him." But Arthur knew that George and Merlin spoke…occasionally. George could have easily told Merlin what he'd said, filling the idiots head with even more nonsense. No, he couldn't have that.

"I'm sorry, Sire. But if you're going down there to see Merlin, I'm afraid Gaius has asked for no visitors."  
"What? How did you…" Arthur stopped himself before he said anymore.  
"I'm simply guessing, Sire. Gaius told me that his ward needs rest and should not be disturbed if you want him to resume his normal duties tomorrow."

Arthur ignored the fact that he'd basically just been told he couldn't do something by a servant that wasn't Merlin. What he was focusing on that all Merlin apparently needed to get better was rest, which he knew the idiot was well capable of doing. One of Merlin's many talents was sitting down on the job.

"Very well then, you are dismissed for tonight."  
"Would you like me to still light the fire, your majesty?"  
"No, no it's fine. You are dismissed."

George silently bowed and left the room, leaving Arthur alone. Guinevere was busy helping around the castle, something she did out of free will despite not needing to. He expected she would join him later.

However, before she joined Arthur, Gwen intended to visit Merlin. She made up an excuse in her head that she might have forgotten some garments from Gaius as a reason to go back to his chambers. Knocking quietly, Gaius opened the door but didn't let her in. Instead, the pair had a conversation outside.

"How's Merlin?" She asked almost instantly, forgetting her excuse. "I thought he was a bit off earlier."  
"Not to worry my Lady, he's in bed at the moment."  
"In bed? I thought he was supposed to be with Arthur at this hour?"  
"Not this time. He took a serious blow to the head on his and the knights' hunting trip."  
Gwen was horrified at the news. "Oh, my…will he be alright?"  
"Yes, he'll be perfectly fine. All he needs is bed-rest, which I'm forcing him to have."  
Gwen couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at that, she knew how Merlin was so protective of his duties, hardly letting anyone else do them. It couldn't have been easy to keep him from doing them.  
"Well, you keep him resting until he's better, Gaius. I assume Arthur knows?"  
"I've sent George in his place."  
"I'm sure he'll thank you for that."  
The pair exchanged smiles and Gwen went on her way, satisfied with Gaius' answers.

The only thing Gaius didn't tell her was about Merlin's newfound deafness, which he was sure would clear up in the morning. Merlin had requested Gaius not to tell anything unless he said he could, hoping it would pass over quickly and no one would have to know.

*The next morning*

Merlin and Gaius ate breakfast not saying a word. Although, it wouldn't have made a difference if they had.

He was poked in the arm by Gaius to get his attention. "You can't tend to the King today, not in your state."  
Merlin managed to read 'can't' and 'King' from Gaius' lips and shook his head.  
"I need to, I didn't last night. Do you know how mad he'll be if I don't show up today as well?"  
"You're in absolutely no state to do so." Gaius told him loudly, hoping to get through to his ward.  
Merlin didn't pick up any of that, it was merely a buzzing to him. "I'll be alright. He won't even notice. Plus, if I don't go today, Arthur will keep coming down and nagging you." Merlin replied, hoping that it suited whatever the hell Gaius said.

Gaius rubbed his hands over his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to convince Merlin a second time not to go to Arthur.

"Fine, perhaps it'll do you good, getting back into some routine." Which was exactly what Merlin wanted, knowing that it would make him feel better, or less useless.  
"It should clear up by tonight, 3 days at most." Gaius informed Merlin, who only picked up 'clear up' and '3 days' which sent him into a small panic.  
"3 days?! I'm going to be like this for 3 days?!" The young man practically shouted as he stood from his seat.  
"Merlin, calm down!" Gaius stood as well and rested his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "I said 3 days at most. It might be tonight."

Merlin saw the words 'at most' and relaxed a little, hoping to God that it would be gone before then.

In spite of what he had proclaimed to Gaius earlier, Arthur would likely notice his problem, Merlin knew that. He was a clotpole but he was a damn observant one. Well, except when it came to his magic. Which even to his surprise, the King remained oblivious. He then figured that if he could hide that from Arthur, he could hide this too.

After all, if there was one thing that Merlin was good at, it was keeping secrets.


	3. Dullness

The time eventually came for Merlin to attend to Arthur, to see what his pratty King wanted him to do that day. He silently hoped that it wouldn't be anything that involved keen hearing ability.

"Merlin, are you sure you'll be alright?" Gaius' voice was merely a humming in his ear, nothing intelligible. But Merlin guessed what his mentor was saying with ease.

"I'll come back and hide if I need to." Was all he replied with before walking out of the door of their shared chambers. Gaius sat back down in his chair, knowing all too well that Arthur would pick up that something was wrong with his ward. He knew how much Arthur cared for Merlin, even if the King would never admit it to the man himself. As the King and a knight, Arthur was trained to have eagle-eyed observation, though it was fairly obvious to anyone who spoke to Merlin that he was deaf. Gaius would wait and see what would happen.

On his way to Arthur's chambers, Merlin went over their usual routine. He was trying to interpret what Arthur would say to him so he could answer without drawing any suspicion and ensured himself that he would properly duck if he decided to chuck something at him today. He already had a head injury; he didn't need another.

When Merlin finally walked into the King's chambers, he was surprised to see its main occupant sitting at his desk, fully dressed and writing on a scroll. Although from what Merlin could see, he hadn't written much on it, almost as if he'd started it the second before he opened the door.

Arthur looked up from his desk and locked eyes with those of his manservant, the one person he had hoped to see walk through his door that day. It didn't bother Arthur that Merlin didn't seem to be holding any breakfast, he was just so relieved to see Merlin fully recovered from his injury.

Or so he thought.

"Merlin, it's almost good to see you. I was half-hoping George would walk through the door." He said, joking of course. Arthur knew Merlin's opinion of George. He was trying to ignite their usual banter, something he'd missed even for less than a day. What Arthur wanted to say was "Merlin, you idiot, you had me so worried."

Merlin stood in the doorway and smiled, assuming Arthur had made some joke about him looking terrible or something along those lines. Closing the door, he moved so he could face his King.

"You're dressed. I can't believe it."  
"As the King of Camelot, I do have some skills you know."

Merlin noticeably squinted as he tried to determine what Arthur was saying, which the other man picked up on. He quickly realised that if he hesitated in answering Arthur, he might realise that something was wrong with him.

"What are my jobs for today?" He asked, hoping Arthur would just tell him the jobs and nothing more. The manservant intended to get out of there as quickly as possible to avoid suspicion.

It wasn't that Merlin didn't trust Arthur, because he did with his life. Above all, Arthur was his friend. But Merlin knew what Arthur was like. If he found out, he'd make a fuss. He'd insist for Merlin to take time off, which was the last thing he wanted.

If Arthur forced him to take time off, the dollophead could've gone on another hunting trip or patrol without him, leaving him open to attacks without the aid of Merlin's magic. No, he couldn't risk that. Merlin didn't want time off and absolutely did not want to risk Arthur getting hurt if he were to leave the castle.

Arthur looked up in confusion at his manservant, who had just started neatening the bed. He thought it was odd that Merlin seemed like he actually wanted to do his jobs for today.

"Hold your horses, I assume you have fully recovered from yesterday?" Arthur asked, still sat at his desk with a quill in his grip. Merlin managed to turn around in time to see Arthur mouth "recovered", deeming the rest as mere buzzing.

"Yeah, I'm alright." He lied to his King, turning promptly back around to neaten the bed as he did so.

Arthur squinted, seemingly unhappy with the answer he was given. It was too open. But he didn't want to push Merlin, assuming he was still slightly delirious from the blow. Even upon seeing Merlin that morning alive and talking, Arthur was still struggling to get the image of the battle out of his head.

"Quite a speedy recovery then, Merlin? I'm impressed." Arthur said with a smile but was still unconvinced that his manservant had 'fully' recovered. But Merlin was obviously fit enough or Gaius wouldn't have allowed him to work this morning, so he decided to answer Merlin's question.

"Well then, speaking of horses…" Arthur started whilst looking down at his scroll. Merlin turned around at the familiar buzzing of someone's voice he was used to by now and tried to subtly look at Arthur's lips. It looked weird, thus why Merlin was trying to conceal it. Lipreading would be the only way that Merlin had any chance of understanding Arthur.

Because Arthur was looking down instead of directly at him, Merlin stood no chance at comprehending the King's words, which he knew were likely orders for him. Merlin internally groaned as he saw that Arthur was still talking with absolutely none of it going into his head.

"You need to muck out the stables, we're going on patrol tomorrow morning fairly early." Arthur paused to look up at his manservant, who was stood still by his bed, pillow in hand. Merlin smiled at him to show that he was listening, or at least to give that impression.

Arthur was about to continue what he was writing on his scroll but then remembered something else he needed. "Oh, and Merlin? I think my sword needs sharpening. Would you do that afterwards?"  
Finally, Merlin thought. He saw the words "sword" and "sharpen" and figured out one of his jobs for that day. The rest lay unclear.

"I'll get right on it, your royal pratness." He said slightly chirpier, the happiness of being told a job that meant he could leave get to him. Normally, he'd stick around in Arthur's chambers for a bit and probably insult the King once or twice, but these were no normal circumstances. He turned on his heels.

Being called a royal prat made Arthur smile, relieved that Merlin's sense of humour hadn't been knocked out of him. He glanced back at his scroll.

"Kind of you, Merlin. Be ready for training after…" Before Arthur could finish his sentence, he heard his chamber door shut and the familiar sight of Merlin had disappeared. He looked up now with sheer confusion. Merlin always stayed for a bit before going about his duties, why'd he just suddenly leave? Arthur's mind became plagued with similar thoughts.

Any other master would've fired their servant for simply walking out before they had finished talking as it was seen as improper behaviour, but Arthur was different. Firing Merlin didn't even come into the equation. If Merlin hadn't been injured over the head the day before, Arthur would've gone after him and maybe ask him why he did that. But he cited that the man probably wanted to get on with his jobs so he could get off earlier, perhaps under Gaius' instruction.

Gaius. That was who Arthur needed to see.

Merlin walked through the castle halls on his way to the armoury, passing several other servants on the way, returning each smile that was given to him.

As he passed the kitchen, Merlin paused outside of it. He watched as the cooks bashed together their pots and shout for each other like they usually did. One servant that was helping the kitchen for the day even dropped all the plates they were holding, causing them to smash everywhere. Everybody in the area spun at the commotion, but Merlin didn't even flinch. The sound of the smashing plates was dull to him like it hadn't even happened. Merlin felt his breathing get heavier as he stared intensely at the smashed remnants as he had earlier with the book. He couldn't even hear sounds from the noisiest part of the castle.

He was brought back down to Earth by another servant who brushed against his shoulder in a hurry. Merlin was so startled that he nearly let out a burst of magic, stopping himself just in time.

He needed to get out of there.

Luckily, the armoury wasn't too far away. Even luckier for Merlin was that not a soul was in there when he arrived. The knights were at the tavern for some reason that Merlin rattled his brain for but couldn't remember. Not that he minded that day as he wanted to avoid conversations that could draw suspicion. The warlock found his masters sword and began doing as he was told, sitting himself down on a bench. He tried to focus on doing the task but found it difficult to relax his breathing.

Telling himself to snap out of it, he got on with his job.

Gaius looked up from his work at the sound of the door creaking open and found himself staring into the eyes of the King. He had predicted a visit from Arthur today and so halted his work for a moment.

"Ah, Sire. How may I help you today?" The old physician said, moving away from his bench, his hands behind his back, ready to listen to the King.

"Gaius, just the person I wanted to see. Do you have a moment?"  
"Certainly, my Lord. I was only organising my books, something which Merlin should've done for me…" Gaius cursed himself, he shouldn't have brought up Merlin. Now, Arthur was bound to ask about him.

He tried to change the subject. "What can I help you with?"  
"Merlin, actually. I came to ask about his injury, George didn't tell me much."  
Gaius hesitated before answering. "Ah, I see. Well, he acquired a head wound as I'm sure you know. Other than some occasional dizziness, I can say that he's perfectly fit now."  
"Are you sure? He seemed a bit…out of it earlier."  
"I'm sorry, Sire. I don't follow you."  
"Well, …he wasn't as chatty as usual. Not his regular incompetent self. He actually wanted to do his jobs." Arthur really was observant, especially when it came to Merlin. Or at least, he liked to think so.  
"I would've thought a bit of quietness from Merlin would be a blessing." Gaius uttered, not really meaning it. He was just trying to deter Arthur.  
Arthur let out a small laugh. "Usually, yes. But you should have seen him, Gaius."  
"It's likely to be the dizziness causing it, my Lord. It will wear off."  
"I should hope so. He also walked out of my chambers before I finished giving him an order, it was like he couldn't even hear me."

Gaius visibly tensed at Arthur's last remark, which the younger man picked up on. Arthur could see that Gaius knew something that he didn't and if it were about Merlin, Arthur swore he would get to the bottom of it.  
"Well, if that will be all, Sire. I really must get on…"  
"There's something more to his injury, isn't there?"  
"What? No, Arthur. He's perfectly alright…"  
"I'm not a fool, Gaius. I can see there's something more to it. I only wish you'd tell me."

Gaius knew he could lie to the King no longer. He silently hoped that his ward would forgive him for what he was about to do, but knew it would probably benefit Merlin in the end.

Letting out a sigh, Gaius answered his King. "Well, your majesty. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out." The older man answered holding truth in his words.  
Arthur shook his head. "What do you mean?"  
Gaius turned to glance back at Merlin's room since the door was slightly open and peered at the book he had so hardly thrown that morning, hoping that he was making the right choice for Merlin's sake.

"Gaius?" Arthur said with a hint of desperation, which prompted the physician to turn and face him.

"He can't hear you, Arthur. He hasn't been able to hear a word you've said since the attack."


	4. Armoury Interventions

The King went silent at the revelation. Allowing his face to melt into horrified shock, much like when he first saw that Merlin went down during the attack. But his silence did not last.

"What?! He can't…he hasn't been able to hear me all this time!?" Arthur practically exploded, not taking his eyes off Gaius for a second.  
"He can't hear anyone, my Lord. The blow to his head has rendered him temporarily deaf."

Arthur only became more distressed after hearing more. He hated himself for not figuring it out. Merlin was without a doubt his closest friend, why hadn't he realised sooner? Then, he started to question some things.

"But…I was talking to him earlier, he responded to me..."

"He's relying on lipreading, it's the only way he's been able to understand anyone."

Arthur felt as if the world was spinning, he was struggling to comprehend what he'd been told. The idea that Merlin was quite badly injured without him knowing frightened the King, who had one question on his mind at that moment.

"Why the hell didn't he tell me!?" Arthur more or less shouted at Gaius, who saw what looked like fear flash in the physician's eyes. Arthur knew he needed to calm down for Gaius' sake, and Merlin's for when he found him later.

"I'm really not sure, Arthur. That's something you'll have to ask him I'm afraid." Gaius obviously knew Merlin's reason and understood it completely. But he also knew that Arthur wouldn't go on any kind of trip without his ward.

Arthur turned away and let out a loud sigh, holding one hand over his mouth whilst he thought to himself. He was a trained warrior; he was literally trained to observe the behaviour of others and interpret their next move. Sure, he noticed something was off with Merlin, it was why he came to Gaius in the first place, but Arthur still cursed himself for not realising that Merlin's injury was more serious than he let on and vowed to get to the bottom of why he hadn't told him.

Without looking back at Gaius, he headed for the door. "I need to find him." He said sternly with a tone of voice that commanded no one get in his way. Unfortunately, Gaius wasn't going to let him go without a final word.

The physician moved quickly and advanced towards the door as if he was going after the King. "Arthur!" He shouted, desperate to get his attention before he ultimately left to find his injured ward.

Arthur, holding onto the door, turned and one serious face met another.

"Go easy on him. I'm not sure what he'll be like." Arthur only nodded in response and closed the door to Gaius and Merlin's chambers. Once he knew the door was fully shut, he took off in a run.

Many servants who happened to be roaming the halls of the castle gave a confused look to each other as they watched Arthur storm past. Some servants, on the other hand, made an educated guess as to where their King was running to, or rather, who he was running to.

Arthur passed the kitchen and winced at the noises that accompanied it. He briefly thought if Merlin could even hear that but then switched his mind to the task at hand. Finding Merlin. He turned the corner and ran further down the hall towards the stables, where he knew he had sent Merlin last. He skidded to a halt at the entrance to the stables but saw no scruffy incompetent manservant mucking them out. Arthur thought that maybe Merlin had already finished there but then noticed how incredibly un-mucked out the stables were, citing that Merlin hadn't even been there. This only worried Arthur.

"Damnit, Merlin!" He exclaimed as he hit the nearby wall, taking off in another run in the attempt to find his manservant. Arthur rattled his brain to remember what he had told Merlin to do that morning, but it had been fogged with Gaius' revelation. Eventually, he remembered that he'd told him to sharpen his sword, leading to a quick change in direction where he hoped that this time, he would actually find Merlin.

In the quietness of the armoury, the young warlock sat and continued to do his job. He paid no mind to the fact that he couldn't hear the sound of the metal being sharpened or the sound of his own breathing which he assumed to be loud. Hell, there could have been a fight in the halls outside and Merlin wouldn't have batted an eye. He finished sharpening Arthur's sword and went to place it back where it belonged before tripping over his own feet and dropping the sword. Luckily, Merlin managed to catch himself in time, giving him a clear view of the sword crashing onto the floor. But it wasn't the view he was bothered about.

There was a sharp but faint bump. That was it. If he couldn't even hear a sword, what good would he be in a fight? What good would he be in protecting Arthur? His breathing quickened again as he bent down to pick up the sword, staring at it as if it were a cursed object. His eyes wandered to where the others weapons were kept and he moved to grab a training sword.

He wasn't sure if tears were stinging his eyes or if it was just his imagination.

Merlin, with two swords in his grip, struck them together as hard as he could, the equivalent to two knights in battle. It would have made anyone flinch, but not Merlin. A mere fuzzy bump was all he heard. Unsatisfied, he tried again, this time harder. But nothing changed. He thought the third time might be different but the result remained the same.

Silence. A type of silence that he desperately didn't want.

Angry and frustrated, Merlin continued to harshly strike the swords together, his breathing becoming dangerously faster each time it didn't work. Each time he couldn't hear what he was supposed to be hearing. The noise of the swords echoed in the halls outside despite the door being closed. Merlin's throat held onto a scream.

Arthur ate up the distance to the armoury, where he had determined his manservant to be. He didn't actually know how to approach Merlin when he got there, or how to tell him that he knew. He only knew that he needed to get to him.

Even though Gaius had told him he didn't know what Merlin would be like, nothing could have prepared Arthur for what he saw.

The noise of the swords settled on Arthur's ears before he reached the armoury. For a moment, he was confused. Arthur knew that there shouldn't have been any of his knights in there today as he had allowed them to go to the tavern after yesterday's events. None of them, especially Gwaine, had ever missed an opportunity like that. Arthur then remembered his promise to Gwaine and made a mental note to see him later.

Arthur finally reached the door to the armoury and flung it open, expecting to see two battle-hardened knights simply practising. Instead, he stood frozen at the door and saw the real sight.

Merlin, with his back turned on him, was clashing two swords together as if he were in a trance, and he wouldn't stop. The harsh clanging made Arthur wince as he moved his hands to cover his ears, he couldn't believe Merlin was just standing there seemingly unbothered by this.

Actually, he could believe it. Because it was all his fault he was like this in the first place.

He couldn't get to him fast enough. "Merlin!" He shouted before he got to him, but it was futile.

"Merlin! What are you doing!?" He then exclaimed, placing his hand on Merlin's shoulder to let him know that he was there.

The raven-haired man gasped loudly and the swords went crashing to the ground, almost slicing Merlin's foot. He quickly spun around and saw the worried face of his King, the last person Merlin wanted to see. He tried to hold back the tears that were so clearly in his eyes in hopes that Arthur wouldn't notice them, but he did.

"Arthur!" Merlin uttered in shock, not knowing what to do with himself. "I was just…" He started weakly but was interrupted.

"Merlin, stop. I know you can't hear me." Merlin read Arthur's lips and felt more tears come to his eyes, thinking he was pathetic. But Arthur wasn't going to have that.

"Merlin, it's alright." He said in a calmer voice whilst he wrapped his arms around the younger man in an attempt to calm him down.

Merlin froze. Arthur was actually hugging him; he couldn't believe it. A moment had passed between the two and Merlin settled into the hug and accepted it, he needed this after all.

Neither of them were sure how much time had passed when Arthur pulled away and looked Merlin in the eyes to see if he was crying anymore, which he wasn't, much to Arthur's relief. "Come on, you need to sit down." Arthur took Merlin's arm and made him sit on the bench, sitting next to him.

Merlin wiped some tears away that had stained his face, not looking at Arthur. The King waited for him to finish before saying anything.

"Are you alright now?" Arthur knew it was a silly question, obviously Merlin wasn't 'alright', not after what he'd just witnessed.

Merlin looked up in time to see 'alright' form from Arthur's lips and simply nodded in response, which didn't sit well with Arthur.

The blond man looked to the floor and let out a deep sigh, with Merlin watching through his peripheral vision. He was worried at what Arthur would say, the fears he was having all day coming back to the surface. Until that familiar buzzing came about and he turned to see that Arthur was saying something.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Merlin didn't need the ability to even partially lipread to know what Arthur had said. He responded with a weak voice.  
"I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to worry."  
"Of course I would have been worried, you idiot…" He said quietly, then realising that Merlin might have lipread him despite Arthur looking down.  
"Hmm?" Was Merlin's response, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He thought he knew what the prat had said, but he could have misread it. "I thought…I thought you'd fire me."

That made Arthur shoot up. "What? Why the hell would I fire you?" Arthur was horrified at the idea. Merlin saw "why" and took it from there.  
"I'm hardly much use and there are more competent servants out there. Besides, at least George can hear you."

For a moment, Arthur was impressed at Merlin's lipreading ability. What bothered him was that he couldn't tell if Merlin was being serious.

"You of all people know how boring George can be." Arthur said, trying to make light of the subject. Unfortunately, Merlin wasn't able to make any of that out. He assumed he made some kind of rude remark about George and just smiled weakly, turning away to look at the floor again. Arthur picked up that Merlin didn't hear him put a hand on his shoulder again to get his attention.

"What did Gaius say?" Arthur enquired, but all he got in response was a confused expression. He tried to make it simpler for him. "Gaius." He uttered slowly in hopes that Merlin would get where he was going with this. Which he did.

"Oh, Gaius. He said it would go away within 3 days at most. Hopefully."  
"Hopefully!?" Arthur practically yelled, thinking the worst.  
"I mean very likely. I should be alright, my Lord." Merlin stood to pick up the swords he had dropped earlier, but Arthur sat him back down. "Why'd you do that?" Merlin asked, genuinely confused.

"Because I'm not finished with you yet." So, Merlin sat and obeyed. "I'm not going to fire you, Merlin. That's ridiculous. What I am going to do is give you time off." Arthur thought that Merlin would be elated at getting time off and so you can imagine his surprise when Merlin pulled a horrified expression at the words "time off".

"What? No, I don't want time off!" If Arthur had known that Merlin would react this way, he never would have brought it up, thinking time off would help his friend. He decided to resort to convincing Merlin it was what he needed.

"Merlin, you need to rest. I'm ordering you to take time off." Merlin saw "ordering" and "time off" and panicked. There was absolutely no way he could do that, not with the risk of Arthur leaving Camelot without him there.

Besides, orders never really were Merlin's thing.

He looked directly at his King. "I'm not taking time off. I'm fine."

"I am the King you know; these are orders." Arthur said, not intending to push his title on Merlin in his state. He was just trying to convince him to take care of himself by having time off. Little did Arthur know that it would make Merlin much worse.

"I don't care, I'm not doing it." Merlin said, not having a clue what Arthur had said before him. He wouldn't have cared anyway, time off was not going to happen. Arthur figured out he wasn't going to win this, deciding not to fight Merlin anymore.

Merlin realised that he probably sounded angry when he didn't mean to. "I'm sorry." He uttered weakly once again, meaning it. He turned to the floor again, not wanting to look Arthur in the eye.

"You're sorry? Merlin, I'm the one who should be sorry. It's my fault you're like this. I should have done more in the battle. I'm not sure what would have happened to you if Gwaine…" Arthur stopped himself before saying any more. He knew in his heart that if Gwaine wasn't there to kill that bandit, Merlin could have been even more seriously injured, or worse. He didn't want to think about that right now. Merlin was safe next to him; his hearing would apparently be back in three days. He was here, alive. He had hugged him earlier, which massively helped both of them.

Merlin could hear the buzzing of Arthur's voice next to him as he had leaned forward too. None of what Arthur just said had registered with him. Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulder for the third time since Arthur had entered the armoury, which was more comforting than he'd like to admit.

"Well, I can see he didn't knock your disobedience out of you." Arthur said trying to get a smile out of Merlin. Which ultimately worked as Merlin saw "knock" and "disobedience" and pieced together the rest himself. Only Arthur could joke about that without Merlin getting upset by it.

Relieved at Merlin's smile, Arthur hatched a new plan. "Right then, if you don't want to take time off, you can come with me to my chambers." Before Merlin could get a word in, he found himself being hauled up by Arthur.

"Where are we going?" Asked Merlin, who then turned to face Arthur so he could read the response off his lips.

"My chambers. If you still want to do your normal jobs, I want you to do them where I can see you." Merlin felt touched at Arthur's last words "where I can see you" which must have meant the prat cared about him. Well, he knew that anyway.

"You can forget about the patrol and training, not with you in this state. I'll send the knights." Arthur said, keeping a firm grip around Merlin as the pair exited the armoury. Merlin only picked up on the words "forget" and "training" and looked with a very confused expression at Arthur.

"Wait. We had training?"

"Exactly." Was Arthur's response to that, solidifying his decision. He could hardly do training with Merlin in his state, all the bashing about would make him worse. Additionally, it was no fun without Merlin's constant witty remarks. But Arthur would never tell that to anyone. He was interrupted from his thoughts by his manservant, who he was basically dragging alongside him.

"I can still walk, you prat."

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur said softly, not wanting to let go of him. It was so that Merlin would know he was there. Merlin couldn't hear that he was there so he had to make up for it somehow. Seeing wasn't always enough.

Speaking of sight, Arthur intended not to let Merlin out of his until he got his hearing back, it would certainly be an interesting three days.


	5. Defining Kindness

Unfortunately, it would take all three of the possible days that Gaius had predicted for Merlin's hearing to fully return.

Fortunately, he was surrounded by caring friends, who had no intentions of letting Merlin suffer alone.

After getting him to his chambers, Arthur allowed Merlin to perform his usual jobs under his watch like he had told him in the armoury. Arthur's mindset was to let Merlin carry on as normal if that was what the idiot wanted despite his generous offer of time off. He sat at his desk and found himself looking up at Merlin more times than he realised as his manservant tidied his chambers. He was just checking to make sure he was okay, the last thing Arthur wanted was to see Merlin break down again as he had seen in the armoury. Adding to the images that he was trying to get out of his head.

Arthur had promised himself not to let Merlin out of his sight until he was better, but that had proven to be harder to keep than he initially realised. In hindsight, it was impossible to constantly keep an eye on Merlin. The man was always floating around, either not doing his jobs properly, drinking mead at the tavern or doing chores for Gaius. Arthur carefully considered this once Merlin had left him that evening after tending to his duties.

Still blinded by the image of Merlin's breakdown, which he intended to never see again, Arthur was hesitant to see Merlin dismissed for the night. But he knew that Gaius would look after him, he always did. The pair were like father and son. After making it clear to Merlin that he wanted him to get some decent rest, Arthur let Merlin go. He knew that it was not just he and Gaius that cared for Merlin, even though he would never admit it out loud. There was Guinevere for one, Gwaine, and all the knights come to think of it. He made a list in his head.

With that in mind, Arthur set his plan into motion.

When Guinevere came to his chambers later that evening, Arthur told her about Merlin's deafness. She was horrified, but then thought back to her encounter with him the previous night. Despite what Gaius had told her, the back of Gwen's mind shouted that something was wrong with Merlin. But she didn't want to pursue it in case it did more harm than good. In turn, she told Arthur about this encounter, with Arthur listening intensely. He realised that Merlin had tried to cover it up even to Guinevere, someone who Arthur knew he was close with. It seemed that Merlin really didn't want anyone to find out.

Arthur did not tell Gwen with the intention of hurting Merlin. He only told her so she could help keep an eye on him for the next few days, for the times when Merlin wasn't by his side. He knew Guinevere's kindness would shine through and that Merlin would certainly have an eye kept on him if he told her.

The next morning, Merlin woke up feeling odd about the day before. One thing that he couldn't get out of his head was the fact that Arthur, the very same clotpole he had known for years, had hugged him. He had actually hugged him. Not that he was complaining, he secretly loved it. He didn't know he needed one from Arthur until he got one. It certainly made up for the 'almost-hug' that had happened ages ago when Uther married a troll. It didn't change the fact that Merlin still couldn't hear the birds outside his chambers or the people in the citadel. The young warlock sighed; he was still deaf. Merlin put it together himself that it would take those three days after all for his hearing to make an appearance.

Accepting this, he hauled himself out of bed and got ready for the day. Gaius had come in to see if Merlin was awake and was surprised to see his ward's head buried in a book. Merlin noticed him come in with his peripheral vision and spoke before Gaius got the chance.

"Before you ask, no, I can't find a spell that can return my hearing." Merlin told him bluntly as if he was annoyed.

"I'm not sure that would be a wise decision anyway, Merlin." Replied Gaius, looking sadly at his ward.

Even though Merlin had not heard Gaius' response, the pair of them were thinking the same thing. It would look mighty suspicious to Arthur if Merlin's hearing had miraculously returned so suddenly after telling the King it would likely take three days. Merlin knew he couldn't take the risk as it may get Gaius in trouble too. He put the book down and the pair proceeded to have breakfast.

Gaius was summoned to attend to an ill woman in the lower citadel shortly after they finished, leaving Merlin on his own. The raven-haired man opened the door to leave and was met with the smiling face of Gwen outside, mirroring their encounter from the day of the hunt. The smile on her face was something Merlin couldn't help but return.

"Hey Gwen, erm, what can I do for you?" He asked, thinking she was there to see Gaius and so prepared himself to act as a lipreading substitute. But Gwen had other ideas. Instead, she handed Merlin a piece of paper with a message:

"Don't worry, I know about you. Is there anything I can do?" The message was written in neat handwriting that complimented Gwen greatly.

Unfortunately, Merlin briefly forgot about his deafness and thought the message was referencing something else entirely. Sending him into a small state of panic, he looked up and saw Gwen's now concerned face and realised what she meant.

"Oh!" He said in relief, making Gwen form a confused smile. "Yeah, that. Well, I could do with a hug, actually." So, Gwen wasted no time in giving Merlin what he asked for. Gwen was relieved that she had made Merlin feel better, that was her intention from the start.

She then wrote down for Merlin that he should take the paper with him to Arthur's chambers, hoping that Arthur would take a hint and do the same thing that she was to make things easier for Merlin. They said their goodbyes and Merlin scurried away to Arthur's chambers. Gwen secretly watched him go with a small smile.

Once again, his royal pratishness was already dressed and working at his desk again when Merlin got there. The only difference from yesterday was that Merlin was holding Arthur's breakfast this time.

"Ah, Merlin." Arthur greeted him fondly. He waited until Merlin was facing him until speaking again, hoping it would give him a chance to lipread. "I trust you had a decent night's rest as I instructed you?"

Merlin saw 'nights rest' form on Arthur's lips and nodded, placing the King's breakfast down on the desk. Arthur acknowledged this but didn't seem interested in his food. He was the same the evening after the hunt when George walked in with his dinner, he was too busy thinking about Merlin.

"I bumped into Gwen just now." Merlin started as he went to make Arthur's bed.  
"Oh?" Replied Arthur, impressed with Guinevere's attention to the matter so soon.  
"She handed me this." Merlin took the folded paper out of his belt and briefly returned to Arthur's desk, placing it in front of the King's eyes.

Arthur unfolded it and read the messages from Gwen to Merlin, figuring out that he knew that she knew. Arthur cursed himself for not thinking of the same idea of written messages sooner.

"Now, it might be my head injury, but somehow I think she knows about me." The sarcasm oozed in Merlin's voice as he looked to Arthur for an answer.

"Well, she would, since I told her."

Merlin already knew this but was surprised that Arthur had admitted it. He might have seen the words 'I told her' but didn't hear the sort of proudness Arthur held in his voice.

"I mean, I worked that one out." The manservant replied, not too sure where to go with this. "Why did you tell her?"

Without a word, Arthur grabbed his quill and began scribbling down a message on Gwen's paper. Leaving Merlin to stand by his bed watching from a distance. When Arthur had finished, he held the paper out and motioned for Merlin to take it. He let out an intentionally dramatic sigh and trundled back over to Arthur's desk to grab the paper, studying its words carefully:

"If I can't keep an eye on you all the time, someone else has to as well."

Arthur's handwriting was distinctly different from Gwen's. Merlin tried to not let his mouth go agape, he was not expecting that to be the message.

"That's why, you idiot." Arthur stated before getting up and heading towards the window, Merlin watching him as he went.

Merlin looked down and the message again, then back up at Arthur, who was now peering at the citadel through his window. Merlin wasn't annoyed that Arthur had told Gwen, he was just confused as to why he did it. But now, Merlin understood that Arthur wanted to keep an eye on him, to make sure he was alright. To say he was touched was an understatement.

"Thank you." Came from Merlin, which prompted Arthur to turn around and look his manservant in the eyes, where he could see he was being genuine. He gave Merlin a smile in return.

"You're welcome, but don't get used to it." Arthur teased, not really meaning it. Secretly, Arthur had planned for something like this to never happen again. He didn't care if he had to keep a permanent eye on Merlin, like hell he wouldn't let anything like this happen again.

Merlin managed to pick up on the 'but don't get used to it' in Arthur's words and grinned, he knew he didn't mean it, it was one of his King's usual pratty responses. He put the paper back on the King's desk and went to finish making the royal arse's bed.

"It's a lovely day out, perfect for some training when the knights return from patrol." Arthur stated, turning away from the window to face Merlin. The other man had heard that all too familiar buzzing of Arthur's voice, but wasn't looking at his lips and couldn't deduce what he had just said.

"Hmm?" Merlin murmured, bearing a confused expression. Arthur gazed at Merlin and realised he hadn't heard a word he said and so decided to resort to Guinevere's idea. Scurrying back to his desk, he grabbed that paper and started writing. As he was writing, Arthur could've punched himself for saying so much whilst he was far away from Merlin when it was obvious that he wouldn't pick up on it. He was still adapting to the situation himself.

This time, Arthur rose from his desk, quill in hand, and gave Merlin the paper himself, which bore a whole new message:

"I thought I could do with some training shortly. You up for it?" Was scribbled down.

Merlin's face went into worry, he would be terrible at training in his state, he thought Arthur would realise that. "Training? Erm, sure, it's not up to me…" Arthur saw the worry on his manservant's face and placed a hand on his shoulder, something which Arthur knew comforted him. He gave him a reassuring smile that Merlin immediately calmed at.

Using his bed as a surface, Arthur wrote down more on the paper. Merlin couldn't help but try and get a sneak peek at the message, but the King had concealed it well. Once finished, he handed it back to Merlin:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to make you the target. I was thinking you could stand there and judge me like you normally do. If you're up for it."

Arthur put emphasis on that last part, if Merlin wasn't up for it then that was completely fine by him. Usually, Merlin wouldn't have much of a choice in the matter, not that he often refused anyway. Arthur just wanted what was best for Merlin and thought that some similar routine may help.

Merlin smiled in relief at the message and couldn't believe that he had doubted Arthur even for a second. "Of course I'm up for it, you prat." He responded whilst looking directly at Arthur, who's face lit up very quickly at his manservant's reply. Arthur put his arm around Merlin's shoulders and turned himself and Merlin to the door, looking fairly giddy.

"Come on then."

"Oh? We're going now? But I've not finished…" Merlin stumbled over his words and was stumbling trying not to fall over, but Arthur's grip kept him from doing so. He looked at the King again, awaiting a response.

"No matter, you can finish your chores later." Merlin saw 'later' and figured out the rest himself.

"Prat."

"Idiot."

Merlin let out a small laugh, feeling so much better than he did yesterday. He may have still been deaf but Merlin knew that with Arthur, Gwen, Gaius and maybe some others by his side, he could get through this and come back stronger and probably wittier.


	6. Instinct

Merlin observed how lovely a day it truly was once he and Arthur stepped out of the castle en route to the training grounds. He had to briefly give shade to his eyes because of how bright the sun was, making him temporarily deaf and blind. Arthur noticed this and silently made sure that Merlin didn't lose his footing on the steps.

He had helped Arthur into his chainmail despite the pratty King's insistence that he didn't have to. But Merlin had given him a retaliation of "If I don't, no one else will do it correctly. Then you'll look like a bigger prat than you already are."

Arthur couldn't help but laugh at Merlin's reasoning, he was secretly thrilled that Merlin was still…well…Merlin. He tried to put himself in his friend's shoes and knew he wouldn't be taking it nearly as good as he was. Arthur wouldn't have known which way was up but somehow Merlin was able to bear it.

"Still got your sense of humour I see?" Retorted the King. Merlin gave an agreeing "Mm." whilst nodding his head in return. Once the chainmail was fitted, Merlin made to grab the weapons needed for training, noticeably pausing once he laid eyes on the sword rack. Arthur was slipping on his gloves when he caught on what Merlin was doing. His face dropped to worry when he remembered that the last time Merlin was in the armoury, he was alone and had a breakdown. So, Arthur decided to let his friend know that this time, he wasn't alone, and he certainly wasn't going to let him have another breakdown.

The pair had lost count of how many times Arthur had rested his hand on his manservant's shoulder. It didn't matter to Merlin how many times he did it, because it helped him every time. Not that he would ever admit that.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Arthur asked after he turned Merlin around to look him in the eye and give him a chance to read his lips. It took him a second before he picked up on 'sure' and 'alright' and noticed that Arthur sounded like a certain old physician he knew.

"You sound like Gaius." Pointed out Merlin, who then realised his bad choice of words. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Or rather, you are saying the same things as him…I think."

"With good reason." Arthur responded.

"I'm only going to be standing there. Even I am capable of that."

"Oh, I know you are, only things are a bit different this time." Arthur was having second thoughts on the idea. His newest main concern was that Merlin may become overwhelmed by the noises he should have been hearing and whilst he was battling a knight, he may slip away without him noticing. It would be so much harder than it already was to find Merlin around the castle in his new state.

Merlin was able to see the words 'things' and 'different' fall from Arthur's lips and made a guess as to what he said, deciding it was best to reassure him. "I'll be okay, Arthur." Once he replied, he moved to grab a mace and sword, leaving Arthur's hand lingering in the air where his shoulder once was. He handed the prat the mace since he couldn't carry it along with all the other things. Merlin looked at Arthur with smiling eyes. "You know, we really shouldn't keep the knights waiting."

The debate in Arthur's mind settled at his friend's response. After all, it was Merlin who was mostly able to change Arthur's mind on anything. Even if he didn't realise it, Arthur valued his opinion above all others. That wasn't going to stop now. "Alright, so long as you don't trip over your own feet on the way there." He joked.

Sirs Leon, Percival and Elyan were waiting on the training grounds as they were told to by Arthur upon returning from patrol. They didn't mind, they wanted the extra training in after the bandit attack.

Arthur, with Merlin next to him instead of behind him like he usually was, stepped onto the training grounds and was greeted by the knights. Each of them also gave a smile to Merlin, who they hadn't seen since the attack and therefore his injury which they all had the displeasure of witnessing. The knights couldn't lie to themselves; they were worried for Merlin too. All of them felt a tad guilty for not keeping an eye on him, they were just thankful that Gwaine was there when he was or else the outcome could have been devastating.

Merlin stood to the side and returned the knights' smiles. After placing the weapons down, he watched as Arthur took a proper look around and saw no Sir Gwaine in sight. The King glanced at Leon.

"Where's Gwaine?" Questioned Arthur. "I thought he went with you on patrol."

"He did, Sire." Leon confirmed. "He said he'd be along shortly, he had someone to visit."

"And we all know what that involves." Chimed Elyan, earning a laugh from Percival and Leon. Gwaine had not said where he was going or who he was visiting, only that he had to before training with the 'princess' as he formerly put it. Leon, Percival and Elyan had assumed he was simply meeting with a lady friend.

"Very well, we'll see if he turns up soon." Arthur added. He then started to explain to the knights who were there the training he had in mind for that morning. All the while, Merlin stood back and watched. Whilst he couldn't hear Arthur or the knights, he was comforted by the fact that they were there. Seeing his friends filled a gap that the silence had given him. He fell into a sort of meditative state watching Arthur talk to his men.

Neither Arthur, the knights and of course Merlin noticed Gwaine's approach to the training grounds. He was coming up from the direction behind Merlin when he noticed said manservant and grinned, an idea suddenly hatching in the long-haired knights' head.

He slowed down his walk to a silent sneak in Merlin's direction, trying not to get Arthur and the knights to notice him as well, which they didn't. Gwaine was surprised that Merlin hadn't twigged he was there once he'd reached him but stuck with his idea. Placing a firm hand on Merlin's shoulder, he stood back laughing and waited for his friend's reaction. What he didn't expect was the one he got.

Merlin might as well have jumped a mile, he spun round to face whoever the hell had spooked him and thanked God he wasn't holding a mace when he realised it was only Gwaine. Merlin unintentionally let out a startled gasp that caught the attention of Arthur and the knights. All the knights saw was Merlin seemingly scared at Gwaine's arrival, which didn't surprise them. Arthur, on the other hand, quickly realised what had happened and shot Gwaine one hell of a death stare.

"Gwaine! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there…" Spluttered Merlin truthfully.

"Yeah…that was kinda the point." Gwaine responded, looking at his friend in confusion. "I was looking for you just now, I didn't think you'd be serving the princess today." Merlin tried to read Gwaine's lips but found himself too startled to concentrate. So, he simply nodded and smiled in return, hoping that would get him off his case. Gwaine was just about to say something more when someone interjected.

Arthur was trying to control the anger he could feel inside of him. He knew Gwaine meant absolutely no harm to Merlin, he was only horse playing. But right now, Merlin didn't need to be scared by things that he couldn't hear, that was what Arthur was trying to protect him from. As much as he might have wanted to, Arthur knew he couldn't kick off in front of the knights without receiving some questioning glances in both his and Merlin's directions.

"Ah, Gwaine. Good of you to join us. I take it you're here for today's training and not to harass my manservant?" Arthur asked as calmly as he could at that moment, prompting Gwaine and Merlin to both turn and face him. Arthur could see in Merlin's face that he was trying to calm himself down and he couldn't blame him.

Once again to Merlin's surprise, Gwaine appeared next to him as he walked to join his fellow knights. He gave Merlin a smile before turning to face Arthur.

"Something like that." He responded to the King, who didn't look amused. Gwaine looked back at his friend again and cast his arm over his shoulder, using his thumb to point at Merlin.

"Is Merlin not joining us as your target today, princess?"

All eyes were now on Arthur. "No, not today. He's going to stand there and judge me."

"Like he normally does?" Quipped Percival, who was well aware of Merlin's usual antics.

"Precisely." Arthur replied, hoping that would be an end to the questions. He opened his mouth to continue telling the knights his training plan but Gwaine had other ideas.

"How come?"

Suddenly Arthur wasn't so comfortable answering on Merlin's behalf. He noticeably paused before responding, something which Gwaine especially picked up on. "He's just not feeling up for it today." Was all Arthur could think to say.

Merlin was too far away to read anyone's lips and had no chance of reading Gwaine's since he was facing the other way. Yet somehow, he knew they were talking about him. He also swore he could feel Arthur's discomfort but shook it off in case he was using his magic unknowingly.

"That's never stopped him before…" Muttered Elyan to himself, he was also getting confused at the situation.

Arthur tried to look for a way out of it and found himself locking eyes with Merlin. It was as if their thoughts had become one when Merlin suddenly realised what he could do to stop the knights' questioning. Or rather, what he could say.

"Come on. Get on with it or I'll have nothing to judge." Merlin said in a playful tone. Arthur looked at him with a thankful smile. Even in deafness, Merlin was there to help him. Or both of them in this case.

The knights peered at Merlin and then at each other as if they had just been schooled. Gwaine let out a small laugh at the raven-haired man's words upon hearing that his friend was still acting like himself after all.

"Well, that's us told." Mused Gwaine. "Whaddya say we give him a show to judge, princess?" He finished whilst looking at the King.

"My thoughts exactly." Replied Arthur, who was now audibly calmer. "Now, who wishes to take me first?"

"Me, since I could take you any day." Gwaine responded with a smile dancing on his lips whilst he drew his sword.

"You can certainly try." Arthur commented in amusement, drawing his own sword. The other knights laughed and then engaged themselves in some of their usual warm-up routines.

Merlin stood and judged as he had intended to from the start, proud of himself for once again saving Arthur. Only this time it was from a more social situation instead of the regular life-threatening situations he had grown so used to. Merlin wasn't sure which one he'd rather find himself in, at least in one of them he could protect himself with his magic. Here though, that wasn't really an option. He found entertainment in watching Arthur basically destroy Gwaine in a training battle, along with everyone else.

About halfway through that morning's training session, Merlin became aware of two things.

The first one delighted him, the second one lesser so. The music of the swords and maces clashing in front of him were a lot clearer than yesterday, this delighted him. It meant that some of his hearing was returning to him, even if it was gradual. Merlin knew that in another two days, everything should be back to normal. Or at least that's what Gaius had said.

The second thing made Merlin grimace. He suddenly became aware of an uncomfortable feeling radiating from the side of his head, the same side that had suffered the blow. Feeling it gently with his hand, he cringed at the touch. It was without a doubt the bruise that was surprisingly late to show and late for Merlin to feel.

Merlin thought it was typical of himself to be so distracted by his priorities to not notice or feel the bruise earlier. But that didn't mean someone else didn't notice.

Arthur managed to catch eye of Merlin's pained face when he felt the injured side of his head and immediately decided he needed to check on him. He finished his practice with Sir Leon and told him to continue on with Percival, saying he needed a word with his manservant as the excuse.

Merlin watched as Arthur approached him. "Merlin, what's wrong?" Asked Arthur in a heartbeat, worried for Merlin.

The feeling in his head was distracting enough for Merlin not to pick up on Arthur's words, which still sounded like buzzing. "What?" He replied quietly.

"What's wrong?" Arthur said a little louder, hoping to get through to his friend. Luckily, Merlin managed to pick up on it this time.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a bruise finally coming through." Merlin answered discreetly so the knights wouldn't hear. "Actually, there's a potion Gaius has that could help…"

"Then go and get it." Since Arthur interrupted Merlin, the raven-haired man didn't get the chance to lipread. So, Arthur spoke again. "Go." He said, praying that Merlin would understand him. If this potion he was on about reduced his pain then Arthur wanted him to get it immediately. "And meet me back in my chambers, I'm finished here."

Merlin was grateful that Arthur was letting him go and get the potion. Although, he would've gone even if the prat had refused, not that Merlin thought he would. He lipread 'go' and somehow 'back in my chambers', understanding his instructions for afterward. He gave Arthur a smile before he took off to his and Gaius' chambers. Although he knew Merlin couldn't see him, Arthur gave him a sad smile in return, hoping the idiot would find the potion and be in his chambers when he got there.

Gwaine witnessed the whole exchange. He didn't hear a word of it, but seeing it was enough for him to confirm to himself that something was up with Merlin.

Arthur dismissed his men for that day and none of them argued, they were worn out from the patrol and training. The blond-haired man lobbed the weapons he had used in the training tent and started the walk to his chambers. He didn't like the fact that Merlin wasn't walking beside or even behind him like he usually was after training… and most of the time.

He wouldn't go unaccompanied for long.

Arthur felt it in his gut that he was being followed as he walked through the castle halls to his chambers. He was about to act on it when he heard the distinctive voice of Sir Gwaine calling his name out of nowhere. Arthur felt Déjà vu.

To Gwaine's surprise, Arthur spoke first.

"Gwaine. I'm sorry, I meant to find you yesterday. I wanted to thank you for your actions during the hunt."

"You're welcome, princess. But I'm here to ask of Merlin."

Arthur had forgotten that he had promised to tell Gwaine how Merlin was after the attack. He fully intended to do it at the time, until he found out that Merlin was deaf. It had shaken Arthur to the core too much for him to remember his word.

"Ah, well, he's fine. Just a bruise on the head from the blow." Arthur lied, but Gwaine saw through it.

"I gathered he'd have one. But a little bird tells me there's something more to it."

Arthur, confused at what Gwaine meant, thought for one second that he actually knew the truth. "Had Guinevere told him? No, she wouldn't." Such thoughts swirled around in his head that stopped him from realising he was being tricked.

"What? Who told you?" Arthur asked blindly. There was no way that Gwaine would have known before he did, it didn't make sense.

"Ah-ha! There is something! I knew it." And with that, Arthur caught on to what Gwaine had done. Typical of Gwaine, Arthur thought. People wrote him off as a drunkard without realising how smart he was…occasionally.

Arthur sighed in defeat. The only thing he wanted out of this whole situation was for Merlin to recover. He had told Guinevere because he knew she would help him along the way, which she had with her written messages and her trademark cheery optimism. He knew it was what Merlin needed in his newfound uncertainty. Arthur looked at Gwaine and once again had a flashback to Merlin laying helplessly on the ground after the knight he stood in front of had saved him. He had made a decision.

Arthur's priority was for Merlin to recover no matter what, part of that was keeping him out of harm's way, more so now than he already did. He knew that Gwaine and Merlin were friends like he was with Guinevere. If telling Gwaine would help Merlin then damn right he was going to do it.

"So, what is it?" Enquired Gwaine who was still thrilled with himself for tricking Arthur. He had no malicious intent of course; he was just worried for his friend.

Arthur decided to be blunt, much like the disgusting bandit had been when he injured Merlin. "That blow to his head…it's made him temporarily deaf." The King watched as Gwaine's face turned from slightly cocky into horror. "And I really mean temporarily…his hearing should come back in a few days."

"But…that's awful…" Gwaine was at a loss until a clear thought shot through him. "I should have made that bandit's death more painful." He stated defiantly, Arthur couldn't agree more with Gwaine on that one.

"Perhaps. But I'm grateful for what you did do, Gwaine. Without you, Merlin could've died…" Arthur had to stop himself before saying anymore, the thought of Merlin dying was too unbearable.

"No wonder he freaked out earlier…how is he now?" The knight asked after putting together a few things in his head, like the obvious signs that Merlin was deaf. He couldn't believe himself for not realising both after the attack and on the training grounds.

"He's alright. Gaius has said he should be able to hear again in a few days. We're lucky it wasn't more serious."

"How long hasn't he been able to hear?" Asked Gwaine.

"Ever since he was attacked. He couldn't hear a word we said on the way home, he was lipreading." Answered Arthur. Gwaine turned away at this revelation, he felt terrible for spooking Merlin earlier but he hadn't known his condition. He wouldn't do it again.

Gwaine knew what he needed to do to play his part in Merlin's recovery. He turned back to Arthur. "Well, don't worry, princess. I'll keep an eye on him. We don't want anything else bad happening, do we?"

Arthur blinked; it was as if Gwaine had read his mind. "Yes, if you would. I'm sure Merlin would appreciate it."

Gwaine smiled at Arthur and turned to leave, he had taken up too much of the King's time already. Not that it usually bothered him but Gwaine knew that Arthur was on his way to see Merlin. The raven-haired man may have complained about the pratty princess often but he knew that Arthur's company meant a lot to Merlin.

"Gwaine," Arthur called, stopping the man in his tracks. He turned back around to face the King. "I really can't thank you enough for saving his life."

Gwaine let a small smile form at one corner of his mouth and gave a knowing "I know you can't, princess." As a response. With that, he turned the corner of the castle hallway, leaving Arthur standing alone.

Arthur watched him go and smiled, his eyes glanced to the floor in thought. Gwaine would help keep an eye on Merlin, just like he and Guinevere were. Arthur, content with this, started walking once more to his chambers, expecting his scruffy manservant to be there waiting for him.

"Merlin's lucky to have us." Arthur thought to himself without the knowledge that his manservant had said something similar about him a while ago.

Merlin would get through this; he would make sure of it.


	7. Nature's Part to Play

A short time before Arthur's encounter with Gwaine, Merlin had successfully found the pain numbing potion from his and Gaius' chambers and was now on the way to his majesty's royal quarters.

Merlin had taken a generous sip from the potion once he'd found it among the many potions that Gaius stored readily made. Unfortunately for Merlin, Gaius was yet to be back from attending the woman in the lower citadel so he had to search for it himself. He wrote down a note to remind Gaius to make another after he found it and took off to Arthur's chambers, already feeling chirpier from the pain relief.

He had taken off before Arthur had left the training grounds and so he did not see his and Gwaine's meeting in the castle halls. On his way, Merlin's thoughts turned to the dark-haired knight, specifically their 'conversation' from earlier. Gwaine was no fool despite acting like one sometimes, he was a knight of Camelot for a reason. Part of Merlin believed that Gwaine knew him well and thought he would likely pick up on when he was acting suspiciously, such as earlier. If he didn't figure it out himself, Arthur would inevitably tell him after he was spooked earlier which Merlin was still a little embarrassed about.

Merlin didn't want to keep his deafness a secret from his friends but he had his reasons to do just that. His first was that he didn't want Arthur riding beyond the castle without him as the prat would go unprotected by Merlin's magic. Luckily for him, Arthur seemed to have no intentions of going on hunts anytime soon, so that was one less worry for Merlin.

His second reason was more to do with himself. The more people that he knew were watching him, the more likely someone was going to witness him using his little natural-born gift. He could obviously not let this happen. So, when Merlin found out that Arthur and Gwen knew, he decided to reduce his use of magic around the castle until he regained his hearing.

Now that Merlin was convinced that Arthur would tell Gwaine, he knew that he had to stick to his own newly-made rule. So, it was now no magic until he could hear again unless it was an emergency, which happened more often than Merlin liked in Camelot.

If Gwaine knew, Merlin had no doubt that Leon, Percival and Elyan would know soon after. Like the good friends Merlin knew they were, the three would of course agree to keep an eye on him too. He knew he wouldn't be able to look out for that many sets of eyes before performing any kind of spell, someone could have been peeping around the corner for all he knew. If Gaius was right, his hearing should come back in just a few days or maybe less considering some was already returning. Meaning if nothing crazy happened in Camelot, he thought he would be able to pull this off.

As Merlin neared Arthur's chambers with the plan set in his head, he gave thought to the other reason he initially wanted it kept quiet. He was just so damn used to keeping secrets, why shouldn't this be a secret too?

Because Merlin figured out that this one was different. It was something he couldn't control and it was there for all to keenly observe. He couldn't help being deaf. What he did have control over was his magic which he had become much better at thanks to Gaius' help. There was no control over his deafness, much like a few other things in Merlin's life.

He supposed that keeping secrets was, at this point in life, simply part of his nature. Merlin's face dropped slightly at this thought as he turned the corner for Arthur's chambers and let himself in. He wasn't quite sure exactly what the royal dollophead wanted him to do and so resorted to doing the jobs he'd yet to finish from that morning before Arthur had practically dragged him out for training.

It wouldn't be long before the King joined him, who bore what looked like relief on his face when he lay his eyes on his manservant. Merlin wasn't so sure.

"You did want me back here, right?" Merlin jokingly asked from the other end of the room; he had seen Arthur come in. Judging by the look on the latter's face, Merlin determined that he'd said that louder than he intended to. In fact, he wasn't sure how well his volume control had been ever since the incident. Arthur had not pointed out anything on the matter and neither had Gwen.

Arthur was well aware that people who were deaf often spoke louder and didn't want to point out the times when Merlin was doing it. He didn't mind, it didn't bother him after all. It was enough for Arthur that Merlin was still talking to him, hell even participating in their usual banter.

"Yes, I see you've gotten on with your jobs. Well done." Arthur joked back. Merlin was just picking up some things left on the floor when Arthur spoke, he managed to see 'jobs' and thought he saw 'well done' to boot and smiled. He did think that maybe Arthur would be able to cheer him up a bit, in his own special pratty way.

"I take it you found the potion?" Enquired Arthur, hoping for a certain answer.

"Yeah, eventually. Do you know how many potions we have down there? I'm not even sure all of them do anything." The raven-haired man responded after lipreading Arthur's last word and making a sensible assumption as to what he said. Merlin stood up from crouching to put the various objects he'd picked up away whilst simultaneously looking at Arthur for a response, ready to lipread. Something he had now become so used to.

Arthur let out a small but genuine laugh at Merlin's response. "I'm sure they all have a purpose, Merlin. Or Gaius wouldn't make them." He replied as he walked over to his desk.

"Gaius wouldn't make them?" Merlin repeated, since that was the only part he thought Arthur had said. It could have also been 'Gaius can't make them' but Merlin doubted it heavily. "I do make them sometimes, you know."

"Then God help the souls that drink those ones." Merlin screwed his eyes in pretend annoyance at Arthur, who in turn pretended he didn't see it. He then noticed how Arthur's voice sounded a little clearer after he got closer to him. Merlin wondered why he didn't pick up on that on the training grounds when Arthur approached him but figured he was distracted by the haze of the battles happening in his view.

Arthur noticed Merlin staring at him weirdly, as if he was thinking hard about something. He thought for a split second that he'd gone too far with his last remark.

He looked directly at his manservant. "Merlin? Are you with me?" Arthur said, dancing lightly in case he'd actually hurt Merlin's feelings.

"It's nothing," Merlin replied after seeing Arthur's lips move but couldn't quite catch his words in time. He assumed he asked him if something was wrong. "Well, actually it is something. I'm starting to hear things better."

Arthur's face fell into relief once again since entering his chambers, both times being either because of Merlin's presence or something the idiot had said. "Really?" He uttered with unintended excitement in his voice. "What kind of things?" Arthur simply had to know.

"Hmm?" Merlin responded which told Arthur that he'd spoken too fast for Merlin to lipread him. So, he grabbed the paper that was still on his desk from before training.

He wrote down a message and handed it to Merlin:

"What can you hear?" Said the paper in Arthur's handwriting, the other messages still there from that morning.

"Oh, right," The raven-haired man started off. "I think voices? They're becoming a little clearer…and when you were training, I thought I could hear the swords better."

Arthur listened with eager ears at his friend's explanation. "That's great, Merlin." He replied, happy that Merlin was closer to fully recovering. He turned to look at him. "I wish you told me earlier."

Merlin picked up on 'told me earlier' and responded honestly. "How could I? You were busy with the knights. Plus, I had to get something for this bruise." He said, indicating to his head. Arthur tried to subtly inspect Merlin's head and could just about see the bruise under his dark locks. Merlin's hair was so dark that if he didn't know it was there, he wouldn't have seen it.

"I suppose. However next time, I instruct you to tell me. You had me concerned." Arthur made sure he said that to Merlin's face to get the message through, not really caring that he just admitted he was genuinely concerned for him. Merlin chuckled and gave a sarcastic "Yes, my Lord." as he thought he saw 'next time…tell me'. Arthur, satisfied, went to sit down at his desk to look for some papers.

Merlin took that as a sign to continue his jobs and proceeded to do so. He settled on making sure everything was orderly in Arthur's wardrobe.

As he grabbed at a few tunics to put back in their rightful places, Merlin found amusement in how Arthur had messed up his own wardrobe overnight.

"Something funny?" Arthur fondly asked from his desk. Merlin didn't turn around in time to lipread his master's words and so Arthur repeated himself. The raven-haired man read his lips clearly despite the buzzing that he could still hear.

"Yes, I find it amazing how you manage to mess up your wardrobe when it was only yesterday that I sorted it."

Arthur was rummaging through various papers whilst listening to Merlin's jab at him. Now, it was he who found something funny.

"Come now, Merlin. You know I do that 'cause you enjoy sorting it so much." Quipped Arthur, knowing full well that if any other servant had said that, he wouldn't be as amused.

From the small distance they were away from each other, all Merlin could see was 'enjoy it' fall from Arthur's lips and he pretended to act shocked.

"Me? Enjoy it? Hardly. They are your clothes, after all." He replied daringly and spun to see Arthur's reaction and response. Merlin saw Arthur say 'very funny' and gave a smile to the King as his reply.

Arthur tried to concentrate on finding his papers for the council meeting that afternoon but found himself more focused on Merlin. He was only placing Arthur's own tunics back in the wardrobe, it wasn't much to spectate. But to Arthur, there was. His scruffy oddball of a manservant was there, after all. Just doing his jobs as normal. He tried to snap out of what was probably a trance but Merlin did it for him by speaking.

"The knights were good today." Merlin said as he shut the wardrobe door, finished with his task. He noticed that the King's bed was still a little crumpled and went to fix that.

"Ah, yes. You were judging me." Luckily for Arthur, Merlin managed to pick up the majority of what he'd said.

"Indeed, I was," Started Merlin whilst smoothing out the royal bed. "I admired your fight with Gwaine the most."

The mention of Gwaine suddenly made Arthur feel slightly uncomfortable. He had to tell Merlin that the knight in conversation knew, otherwise Gwaine would certainly let Merlin know himself. He knew he had to be honest with him, like he was when he wrote down for Merlin the reason why he told Guinevere.

"I think he thought he was going to beat me." Replied Arthur, trying to get a joke in before he told Merlin the truth. He noticed that his manservant was facing away adjusting his bedsheets again after giving him a smile. Merlin hadn't quite been able to deduce what Arthur had replied with and so just smiled, assuming it was a light-hearted jab at Gwaine.

"Merlin?" Uttered Arthur still sat at his desk. The man in question turned as he was able to recognise his name through the buzzing; it was possibly the only word he recognised without reading any lips. Merlin stood and faced Arthur, pillow in hand. To be honest, the bed really didn't need doing again since it would only come undone that evening. He was faffing about since his royal pratness hadn't really set him any particular task which Arthur didn't seem to care about. Merlin gestured that he was listening, at least, to the best he could.

"Listen, Gwaine approached…" Arthur started to explain but a voice cut him off.

"Did you really just say 'listen'?" Merlin asked, interrupting Arthur. His voice wasn't annoyed, more like in mock disbelief. His eyes squinted at Arthur as if he couldn't believe what he'd just said.

"…Okay, bad word choice, my fault…" Why did he say 'listen'? Arthur could've kicked himself and part of him nearly did.

"It's alright, clotpole," Merlin spoke, it was all Arthur needed to hear to feel assured. "I promise I'll 'listen' the best I can." He said sincerely and prompted Arthur to continue. "You said something about Gwaine?"

Arthur snapped back to his goal. "Oh, yeah. Well, he approached me after training, he was worried about you and I couldn't lie to him," Merlin was able to see what looked like 'approached' and swore he saw 'couldn't lie' and put the rest together himself. This must have been when he was either waiting for Arthur in his chambers or getting the potion.

"He knows." Arthur finally said, not really sure why he built it up the way he did. It would have been easier for Merlin if he'd just said that instead. He supposed he wanted Merlin to know that Gwaine was worried for him.

Of course, Merlin wasn't surprised. He'd already predicted this, after all.

"You told Gwaine?"

"Yeah, he was worried for you. I had to." Arthur repeated, hoping Merlin would see his side of it and that he wouldn't be annoyed or God forbid angry with him. The last thing Arthur wanted was for Merlin to be angry with him, he despised it whenever they fell out or disagreed normally. With the way that he was for now, it would be harder to patch things up.

To Arthur's surprise, Merlin smiled. "I figured you would." That surprised him even more.

"You're not annoyed?" Arthur enquired, speaking a tad faster since he was slightly taken-aback.

Merlin couldn't read the King's lips that time. "Hmm? I didn't catch that." He said honestly.

Arthur wasted no time in grabbing the paper once more and scribbling down another message. This time, Merlin approached him at the desk to save Arthur getting up.

The newly written message read:

"Are you sure you're not annoyed?" Arthur intently watched as Merlin read his message, waiting for an answer. Whilst his manservant didn't appear annoyed, he could be hiding it. He'd tried to hide his deafness from him, after all.

Merlin's face morphed into confusion. "Why would I be annoyed? You've already told Gwen." He responded, not thinking about how that might have sounded passive aggressive.

Arthur took that statement deeper than Merlin had intended him to. Was Merlin really annoyed with him? How on earth could he fix this? Gwaine would most likely tell the other knights that were there on the hunt too…

"…Gwaine insisted that he knew. He could see that something was up." Arthur didn't want to admit that Gwaine had tricked him but knew that even if he didn't, he would have told him on his own accord with the intention of Merlin's benefit.

Merlin didn't see what Arthur had said but since they were close, he could sort of hear the mild panic in his voice. Panic? That couldn't be right. Not from Arthur Pendragon. But he was and Merlin wouldn't have that.

"Relax. I'm really not annoyed. I know why you did it." Merlin's 'I'm really not annoyed' slowed Arthur's breathing back to normal, he didn't even realise it had quickened.

"Oh really?" Arthur started, now intrigued at the last part of his manservant's response. "Why's that then?"

All Merlin needed to see was the 'why' to determine what was the rest himself.

"Because I know you just want to look out for me." Merlin stated boldly. He couldn't be more spot on.

Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. He expected Merlin to make some kind of joke about him liking to spread tales or something, not for him to be so…well…truthful. Of bloody course Merlin had seen right through him. Despite being a scruffy idiot from time to time, not much got past him. Especially when it came to Arthur.

He wasn't going to deny it.

"Well, it's true. We can't have you in anymore accidents." Arthur expressed, he then proceeded to look at Merlin in a way that can only be described as with fondness.

Merlin saw 'it's true' and now felt his own heart skip a beat. Perhaps he had underestimated how honest Arthur would be in response to his claim. He found himself feeling the same way he felt when Arthur had told him why he informed Gwen. Merlin stood by the desk with his hands resting on the oak swearing he could feel the energy of Arthur's care for him but shook if off in case once again, he was performing magic without his knowledge. He couldn't describe the feeling.

There was a wagonful said in the few moments where neither of them spoke.

"Fair enough then." Merlin said, breaking the silence. Though it was nothing new to him. It was all that was needed between the two as it held more meaning than some may think.

Merlin took note of how Arthur had a lot of papers spread out on his desk. "Are you looking for anything in particular? You've got pretty much all your papers out."

"Keen observation indeed, Merlin," Arthur replied as he turned to look at the other man to give him a chance at lipreading. "I'm trying to find the papers for my council meeting."

Merlin had completely forgotten Arthur was meant to have one today, it had even been scheduled before the incident. He swore he could vaguely hear the actual words 'council meeting' come from Arthur and felt a little giddier.

"The council meeting? Oh, then you must mean these papers." Without effort, Merlin picked up three papers and handed them to Arthur, smug as ever.

Arthur took a hold of them and widened his eyes in disbelief, it was only the bloody papers he was looking for. Merlin really was something else.

"I'm not even going to ask how you did that." Came the response from Arthur, confused as to how he didn't find them himself.

"You're going to be late." Merlin stated.

Arthur laughed. "I wouldn't worry, Merlin. They can't really start without me." He looked at Merlin and smiled. "Will you join me?"

Merlin saw what appeared to be 'join me' and pulled a pretend hard-thinking expression which amused Arthur. "I'll have to think about that one. They're kind of boring sometimes."

"Tell me about it. But these things have to be done. With or without my lazy manservant." Arthur as a joke, not really thinking of him as lazy. Merlin saw 'lazy manservant' and laughed. "Thanks. And we better get going." He replied, readying himself to go.

Arthur smiled at Merlin's indirect confirmation that he was coming too despite his situation. He could always count on him no matter what, it was one of the many things Arthur valued about Merlin.

"My thoughts exactly."


	8. Of Banquets and Bouquets

"What of our patrols, Sire?"

"When shall there be another hunt?"

"This speech is vital to maintain our agreement…" On and on they went, the members of the council seemed insistent on ripping apart every word of the King's report to them. Arthur bit back on the obvious sound of ennui in his voice and answered their endless questions.

Merlin was stood where he usually was during council meetings, behind Arthur and slightly towards the left so to the council members, he appeared on Arthur's right. It was rather fitting.

Merlin's hands fidgeted in boredom behind his back as he tried his hardest to listen to what the council was saying, or more specifically, to what Arthur was saying. He knew that although they meant well, the members of the council tended to drone on a bit. Occasionally, Merlin found himself to be able to pick up on a word or two without having to lipread. This excited him, as he knew that soon, he would get his hearing back fully. There was at least one full day left, according to Gaius.

At the very back of his mind, Merlin was aware that had he not been a creature of magic, his injury would have screwed him over far worse than it had done. For anyone else, his injury would've had more permanent damage that would reach beyond the ability to hear. Merlin knew that he had gotten off lightly.

He may not have been able to find a spell to get his hearing back on the spot but that didn't mean his magic wasn't accelerating his healing. It had its benefits, even when he wasn't consciously using it.

"That will be all." Arthur finally said, voice clad in exasperation. The meeting had run over its usual time and he was desperate to head back to his chambers before the evening's events. "I will see you all tonight."

A series of "Yes, my Lord." followed from various members of the council as they rose to leave. Not all of them had dismissed themselves when Arthur picked up his feet in Merlin's direction.

Merlin had snapped back into what was happening after he saw Arthur stand to dismiss the council, too caught up in his own thoughts. As much as he wanted to pay his attention to the meeting, the silence proved to want more of it. Only the odd word managed to slip its way into Merlin's ears.

Arthur made sure all of the council were out of the room when he spoke to Merlin.

"I bet you're glad you came." He joked with a voice filled with more content now he was talking to Merlin.

Surprisingly, Merlin was able to pick up what he thought was the majority of Arthur's words. "Oh, yes, Sire. Very glad." He responded.

Merlin's full response to his comment filled Arthur with relief. Merlin had already told him that his hearing was gradually returning but now that Arthur had seen it for himself, he was secretly elated.

"I'm sure. Come on, we're heading back to my chambers." Stated Arthur whilst lightly patting Merlin on the arm. He then started to walk to the door with his raven-haired manservant following him.

"Your chambers?" Merlin began, only hearing the last part of Arthur's sentence. "What for?"

Arthur made sure to face Merlin before replying. "For tonight, of course. Someone has to get me ready for the banquet."

Now Merlin really was confused. "Banquet? Since when were we having a banquet?" He asked with squinting eyes as if he was trying to remember if he had been told about this already.

"Since about five minutes ago," responded Arthur. "I organised it with the council."

Merlin saw 'five minutes ago' and realised one thing he had missed during the meeting. "Now, you see, I wouldn't have known that." he replied.

"I realised that; it's why I'm telling you now," Arthur said, voice in mock pride as if he were a hero by telling him this information. Merlin knew he was only horseplaying and smiled in return. Before the pair left the room, Merlin grabbed Arthur's papers from the meeting and moved to catch up, only to find Arthur waiting at the door for him.

"Come now, Merlin. I wish to rest in my chambers for a bit before the banquet."

"I'm coming, prat," Merlin responded, Arthur's papers in hand. "It's a good thing I organised your wardrobe earlier." he commented upon realising one useful thing he did that day.

"I suppose so, now I must make it my mission to mess it up again." Arthur said jokingly. As Merlin was walking over to his King by the door, he saw the word 'mess' fall from his lips and changed his voice to bare mock annoyance.

"You dare and I'll leave your clothes on the floor for a month." Merlin wasn't sure how threatening he sounded, or if he even sounded threatening at all. He probably would've, if a genuine threat was carried within his words.

"I'm sure you will, Merlin." Arthur replied with a fond, genuine smile, in contrast to Merlin's far less than genuine threat.

In Arthur's chambers, Merlin was just finishing dressing his royal pratness for the banquet. By the request of the King himself, he was doing a rather slow job of it.

Arthur had given Merlin the odd order of doing his job slowly because he needed to pause. Whilst the banquet was only for the councilmen, knights, noblemen, and other important members of the Royal Court and not for a visiting guest, the fuss of it all would take it out of him if he wasn't to rest in his chambers beforehand. That aside, his secret motive was to give Merlin a break as well. Arthur reflected on how Merlin did not become overwhelmed during training, except for the Gwaine incident, or during the council meeting, much to Arthur's relief. He found himself with the guttural desire to shield Merlin from any harm, big or small, especially whilst he was injured.

There was no real danger inside the castle, of course. It was just him being overly protective. Even if he knew this, that wouldn't have stopped Arthur Pendragon.

"Just the cloak and you're done, my Lord." Merlin uttered as he turned to retrieve Arthur's cloak from its usual spot. As he approached Arthur with it in hand, he watched as his master's lips moved and became distracted at the fact he could actually hear some words and did not focus on what they meant.

"Merlin, if you want, you don't have to be there tonight." stated Arthur, not picking up that Merlin was stuck in his own little world once again.

"What?" responded Merlin which indirectly informed Arthur that he needed to repeat himself.

"I said you don't have to serve me tonight if you wish to rest." Arthur said honestly, a little part of him hoped he would come. Banquets were not banquets without Merlin.

The manservant picked up on 'don't have to serve me' and figured the rest. He had found that ever since Arthur had learned of his deafness, he'd been offered time off from his usual duties despite saying in the armoury that he wanted none. First, it was his duties overall, then the training session, the council meeting, and now the banquet as well. This obvious sign of care from Arthur had woven its way into Merlin's heart as a reminder that the prat truly cared about him, even though he didn't always show it. He couldn't help but feel touched.

"I'm starting to think that you don't want me to come." Merlin replied as a joke as he wrapped the cloak around Arthur.

"Don't be ridiculous, Merlin. Of course I want you there," claimed Arthur, meaning it. "I just thought you might like to retire early."

Merlin was just adjusting Arthur's cloak at the back and couldn't read his lips but managed to hear 'I want you there' which only touched him further. Then, he picked up 'retire early' and realised that Arthur wanted to dismiss him so he could get some rest. Merlin appreciated Arthur's offer immensely but he refused to accept it.

"It's fine, honestly. You can count on me being there." Merlin confirmed as he reached the front of Arthur to adjust the cloak some more. He finished his sentence with one of his trademark 'Merlin' smiles that Arthur secretly adored.

Said King became lost for a moment at that smile from his manservant and hesitated before replying.

Arthur cleared his throat as quietly as he could. "Well, only if you're sure, Merlin." he finally responded.

Since they were so close, Merlin was able to hear the majority of what Arthur had uttered.

"I'm absolutely sure, Sire. Besides, the only other servant who knows your favourite dinner is George." The rest of that sentence remained unspoken between the two.

Arthur laughed. "Ah, well, it's best that you do come then." he joked, unable to mask the happiness in his voice at Merlin confirming he was coming to the banquet. Arthur never realised how much Merlin doing little things, for example, his damn job, made him so happy. Anyone else taking his place was unthinkable, even if they were ten times more competent than Merlin.

Merlin finished finessing Arthur's cloak and stood back to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Arthur, on the other hand, was trying to ignore the tiny stab of melancholy that he felt when Merlin widened the distance between them.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and prepare your meal."

"Right, of course. I'll be sure to see you at the banquet hall."

As Merlin had already turned for the door, he only processed 'see you' and 'hall' come from Arthur. However, he did turn around before answering him.

"You certainly will, my Lord." he uttered with a smile and made his way out of Arthur's chambers. Leaving the latter man standing in there alone, preparing himself to greet those attending the banquet ahead.

Arthur was sat where he usually was during Royal Banquets. To his right were Sirs Percival, Gwaine, and a few other of his knights. To his left sat Guinevere, Gaius, Sirs Elyan and Leon. Each were chatting happily away at each other. Gwen was talking to Gaius and Elyan about a fascinating creature she had read about in one of her many books whilst Arthur converged with Percival about a topic he would probably not remember later that night.

A wave of servants suddenly entered the room, each with a plate of delicious food in hand. As Merlin was holding the King's dinner, he was naturally one of the first to enter. Upon approaching his majesty, Merlin tried to ignore the eyes that followed him.

It was the knights mostly; Gwen was being much more discreet with her watchful gaze. In true Gwaine fashion, he was being the least discreet of all the knights peering at Merlin. Those looks from the others told the manservant something he had rightly predicted before.

The other knights who were there knew of his current situation, thanks to Gwaine. Which was inevitable, Merlin thought. He didn't mind, they were bound to find out eventually. After all, he'd already sworn to his newly-made no-magic-unless-there's-an-emergency rule.

Arthur smiled as Merlin placed the food in front of him. "Ah, my favourite." he mused as his manservant moved to fill his goblet. Once he filled it, Merlin took a small step back.

"Will that be all for now, Sire?" he inquired, indirectly asking if he could now tend to the others who were sat near Arthur.

Arthur made sure to nod as he spoke. "Yes, Merlin. You may continue." he replied as professionally and as Kingly as possible. Merlin nodded in return, thankful for the gesture. It was expectedly noisy in the banquet hall which clouded Merlin's ability to hear the little words he could. Merlin tried to pay it no mind.

Goblets were filled with tasty beverages for Gaius, Gwen, and Percival thanks to Merlin. Each of them giving him a smile and a thank you. When he reached Sir Gwaine, he found himself looking directly into his eyes. It was Gwaine that initiated it. He poured the liquid into his goblet and before moving onto the next person, Gwaine held onto his arm lightly.

He'd figured that Merlin had to be alright since he was there serving the princess. If he was truly unfit to work, he was sure Arthur would have given him the night off. The princess certainly had a soft spot when it came to Merlin, though he would be the last person to admit it. Gwaine knew he was a prat sometimes, but he also knew that his care for Merlin ran deeper than any gorge he had ventured in. Some may even have called it affection. Yet despite this, no man would not have asked if their friend was okay after finding out his condition from someone else.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking Merlin directly in the eyes like he intended to.

Merlin didn't need to be able to hear to know what Gwaine had said. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd lipread "Are you alright?" from someone. Only this time, it wasn't coming from Arthur.

Because Merlin still wasn't fully in control of his own volume, he opted to nod to Gwaine instead. Rather that than cause a few more eyes to turn his way. He followed his nod with a genuine smile that left the words "Thank you." unspoken to Gwaine, yet the knight got the message clearly. One smile returned another.

The banquet went on as most others usually did. There were roars of laughter from the lower end of the table where some of the noblemen crashed their goblets together in synchrony. At the top end, Merlin stood aside and waited for any cue that indicated his service was needed. Surprisingly, he wasn't called for very often that night. Those he was 'in charge of tending to' seemed to be quite independent, whereas the other servants were constantly pouring drinks or fetching something for their respective group. Merlin liked to think that Arthur was still desperately trying to give him a break and that the knights were perhaps doing the same. He would never know that his little theory was actually true.

The night only drew closer in as the hours went by. One by one, each nobleman, knight, or council member dismissed themselves and voiced their thanks to their King. Only a handful of guests were left at the table when Arthur gestured for Merlin to pour him another drink. Merlin walked over to happily do so.

"Thank you, Merlin," he began as Merlin finished filling his goblet. "I think that will be all for tonight, why don't you retire? I can handle myself for the rest of the evening." Arthur said in one last attempt to get Merlin to rest early. As much as his manservant refused, Arthur was only offering because he thought it might help his friend.

Since it had become a lot quieter now, Merlin was able to deduce most of Arthur's words. Some still remained unclear but he got the gist of it. In the past hour, Merlin had started to feel his eyes become harder to keep open as if they were made of steel. He'd been having rough nights lately even before the incident, too much going on in his mind. For the first time since he became temporarily deaf, Merlin decided to take the time off that Arthur was so generously offering him. If retiring from serving at a banquet early counted as a 'generous' amount of time off.

He'd give this one to the prat.

"If you say so, Sire." he said as he nodded his head respectfully in Arthur's direction, whose face was pleasantly surprised that Merlin had actually taken up his offer. Behind this, he was relieved at his manservant's decision.

"I should expect to see you in my chambers tomorrow morning, bright and early." Arthur stated, intending for it to be a joke. Gwen, however, didn't quite catch the joking tone in his voice and shot him a side glare that neither Arthur or Merlin saw. She spotted Merlin's tiredness from a mile away as the observant woman she was and concluded that he needed a thorough sleep.

Merlin only needed to hear 'bright and early' to determine the rest of Arthur's words. "I mean, I'll certainly turn up at some point." he replied with one of those smiles again. Arthur could have become lost in them.

It only took Merlin's response for Gwen to realise that Arthur was joking. The pair were just up to their usual banter. She, as well as Arthur, the knights, and Gaius, watched as Merlin walked out of the banquet hall and turn in the direction of his chambers. All of them sharing the same desire, the desire for Merlin to recover as soon as possible. Leon then turned to Elyan and the conversations among the men resumed.

No one saw Gwen's little smile as Merlin fully disappeared from their sights.

The door to Gaius' and his ward's chambers opened under Merlin's hand, who was semi-exhausted after his walk from the banquet hall. He noticed that Gaius had left the things he had taken to the ill woman from the lower citadel on the table and decided to be helpful and put them away.

Once he'd completed that, Merlin headed for his private chambers and couldn't wait to get his head down. He only hoped that tonight he wouldn't be as restless.

A glint of purple came into Merlin's view as he entered his room that was coming from his pillow. He shut the door behind him and moved further into the room, realising that the purple glint was a bouquet of flowers as he got closer to his bed. Smiling in confusion, he picked up the flowers and smelt them. They were divine, like how all flowers should smell. He then noticed a note underneath where they had laid on his small pillow.

"Dear Merlin..." the message had started, in handwriting Merlin recognised without needing to look at its donor:

"…I understand that right now, you may not be able to hear any kind words from your friends. So, I figured that if you cannot hear anything nice, you might like to smell something like it instead.

Remember. Purple suits you, Merlin.

Your friend,

-Gwen."

It was a damn good thing Merlin was alone, otherwise, he would have looked as if he were tearing up over some flowers. To say he was deeply touched was the understatement of the day. Merlin placed the flowers atop his pillow once more and stood to file Gwen's note in a safe place, intending to keep it forever. He slid it within a drawer next to his bed and made a mental note to make it up to Gwen as soon as he could. She didn't have to go through all that trouble but she did. Merlin truly was surrounded by loving, supportive friends. He had come to fully realise this in the past few days.

The scent of the flowers graced Merlin's pillow long enough for him to drift off peacefully.

For the first time that week, Merlin's night was not restless. He slept in company of the odour of the bouquet which served as a friendly reminder of all of his caring, yet sometimes lovingly idiotic, friends.

He knew they would help him get through it.

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	9. Written Remedies

Merlin would become incredibly thankful for his thorough nights rest by the next morning.

It seemed that overnight, some of Camelot's citizens in the lower citadel had caught a similar illness to the woman that Gaius had recently treated. Naturally, the court physician was summoned in order to investigate and prescribe remedies to those who needed them, only this time, he would be accompanied by his bed-headed apprentice.

Gaius had arisen Merlin about an hour before his ward was due at the King's chambers and had told him slowly and clearly that they were needed in the lower citadel immediately. Merlin groaned as a response before he started readying himself, tempting Gaius to smack him over the head but the old physician knew better.

By Gaius' predictions, Merlin's hearing was thought to be fully returned by the next day. Already that was becoming more and more likely as he seemed to be much more sharply aware of the sounds of the citadel as the pair trekked along the old paths.

The court physician and his apprentice eventually reached the area they were summoned to and got to work. After only looking at a few citizens, Gaius and Merlin were able to connect certain symptoms and figure out the illness. It was curable but required daily intake of a certain potion that Merlin had luckily packed before they left. Home after home they went, treating men, women, and children alike. Merlin found the day to be insanely repetitive with the more hours they spent stuck in the lower citadel. He couldn't believe that he found himself actually wanting to do Arthur's tedious chores.

"Doing Arthur's laundry would be more thrilling than this." he thought to himself. Yet Merlin knew that on top of being 'the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the Earth' and a dragonlord, his duties as the apprentice to the court physician were also important.

And for once, the people of Camelot would see what he was doing for them, even if it was on a smaller scale than his usual feats.

Before scurrying to the lower part of the city, Gaius instructed George to take a message to his majesty to inform him of his and Merlin's whereabouts as it was likely that Merlin would be unable to perform most of his duties that day.

Merlin had insisted on telling Arthur himself as he hadn't seen him since the banquet but Gaius wasn't having any arguments, citing that they were needed as soon as possible. So, Merlin had to keep reminding himself to thank Arthur later for convincing him to retire early last night. He only hoped the dollop-head wouldn't be too annoyed at George's appearance.

At the same time that Gaius and Merlin were about halfway through the citadel, Arthur heard three neat knocks on his door.

"You can come in, you know." Arthur shouted towards the door, thinking it was just Merlin playing around, carrying on with their banter from the banquet. He was sat at his desk again, this time reading an old speech. The door opened and Arthur waited for Merlin to speak, knowing full well that it would pull him out of his 'concentration'. What he heard instead wasn't what he expected nor was it what he wanted.

"Good morning, Sire." the voice spoke, sounding nothing like Merlin's. Arthur shot a glance upward and saw the familiar expressionless face of George standing in front of the door and felt an odd sense of panic rise within him.

It was not George himself that initiated this reaction but rather the reason why he was here right now in the place of Merlin. Normally, Arthur would've thought that his manservant had just overslept but this time, he was well aware that the circumstances were different.

Had Merlin been injured again? Had his hearing gotten worse overnight? Why wasn't he here? Such questions swaddled Arthur's mind as they grew wilder.

"George," he said with an unenthusiastic tone that he couldn't help. "I wasn't expecting you, where's…" Arthur didn't even have to finish for George to guess what he was going to ask.

"I believe my message from Gaius will answer you, my Lord. If you will allow me to read it."

Still sat at his desk, Arthur gestured for George to continue. Hoping that this message from Gaius didn't resemble any of his own thoughts.

"He asked me to inform you that he and his ward have been summoned to the lower citadel on the count of an illness and he is unsure when they will be back." George informed Arthur, delivering it like a proper servant. He waited for his King's response, hands behind his back and back straight.

Arthur's first thought was relief, relief that Merlin hadn't had his progress of recovery stunted. That would have been damn awful since he'd come this far into fully recovering, Arthur wouldn't have known what to do. Then, his mind turned to the other half of Gaius' message.

"Illness? What illness?" he asked out loud, thinking Gaius might have informed George of something before he and Merlin were whisked away.

"I do not know a huge amount, Sire. Only that some citizens of the lower citadel were reported ill and needed to be seen to."

Arthur nodded as he took the information in, realising that whatever was happening in the lower citadel would probably take up most of Merlin's day. This was fine, of course, Merlin was doing his duty by aiding his people in a time when they needed him. He couldn't fault his friend on that. Sometimes Arthur forgot that he was also Gaius' apprentice.

What he didn't know was that Merlin was also many, many more things.

If he had to find one thing that he didn't like about the situation, it would be the fact that it occurred on that day. The day that Arthur had planned to keep Merlin in his sights more often than he'd already done in the past few days.

He knew that Merlin's hearing was predicted to return tomorrow and had planned to oversee that he didn't get himself into any trouble or accumulate any more injuries. Basically, anything that could hinder the possibility of Merlin going back to normal tomorrow. Arthur still knew that this was only a possibility, he even thought it might even take longer for Merlin's hearing to fully return. Despite this, Gaius had very rarely been wrong before and so the royal had faith in his prediction.

"Would you like some breakfast, your majesty?"

Arthur was so caught up in his mental tangent that he almost forgot that George was in the room.

"Uh, yes…" he began, thoughts about one man still swelling in his mind. "Yes, that would be ideal." finished Arthur as he looked directly at George.

"Of course, Sire." replied George with a bow and left the room not long after.

The King then found himself pondering in his room, similarly to the other day when George had appeared in the place of Merlin. He was left wondering when Merlin would reappear. Would it be late afternoon? The evening? Or would he somehow intercept George carrying his breakfast and deliver it to his chambers himself? Arthur didn't know.

It still hadn't properly dawned on Arthur how much of the past few days he'd focused on Merlin's wellbeing. His father would never have approved of such care towards a 'mere servant' to put it in his own kindly selected words. He'd never found himself so fixated on someone's recovery when the person of interest wasn't even on their deathbed. There were very few people that could have this effect on Arthur, and one of them was absolutely Merlin. There was no denial towards it.

Once George had returned with his breakfast, Arthur dismissed him. George had offered to do the usual things that Merlin did in the mornings but Arthur had politely declined. Because that was the problem, they were Merlin's jobs, and as daft as it may have sounded to other noblemen, Arthur liked the way Merlin did things.

"He is my manservant," Arthur had once told George after Merlin went missing not long ago. "…to be honest I quite like it that way." were his exact words before running off to find his lost friend.

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little bad. George was a very thorough and excellent manservant; he just wasn't the one for him. He was sure that someone would truly appreciate his services one day.

But for now, the King ate his breakfast unaccompanied by Merlin's usual prattle that more often than not distracted Arthur from what he was supposed to be doing himself. He didn't mind it though, sometimes his Kingly duties proved themselves to be ever so boring.

Most of his Kingly duties for that day he'd done without Merlin's company which pained Arthur more than he would ever admit. He attended a few meetings, reviewed various reports of patrols from Camelot's outlying villages, and spoke to his advisors. Little did they know that one of the only people Arthur ever took advice from didn't share their official title. That didn't matter to Arthur, what mattered was the person whom the advice was coming from. Royal Advisors with years of experience could not compare to the unnatural wisdom that his manservant possessed, even if he didn't look wise at all.

Merlin was a wonder, an enigma. And one day, Arthur was going to fathom him out properly.

He just wasn't quite sure when that day would come.

Unbeknownst to the King, Merlin had actually made a few trips back to his chambers in order to quickly brew more of the potion he and Gaius were administering. Had this knowledge made its way to Arthur, he would've sprinted in the direction of the physician's chambers each time and his reason why would likely be left behind.

Unfortunately for Arthur, every time Merlin snuck back into the castle, he had missed him. In fact, it was coming up to late-afternoon and he hadn't seen or heard from Merlin all day. Sure, he knew from Gaius' message that the pair might be gone all day, but surely it didn't take this long. Arthur even went as far as to plan a visit to the lower citadel himself, concerned for the wellbeing of his people there, including Merlin and Gaius. His royal duties, on the other hand, overtook him. So, he asked for Leon to investigate and the red-haired knight happily did so, ever loyal to Arthur.

Leon managed to confirm the numbers of those who were being aided by Merlin and Gaius with there being more than Arthur expected. From that alone, he was able to connect the facts. It made sense as to why Merlin was taking this long considering the numbers. He could stop fretting now.

God, how he missed that shabby idiot.

After what felt like weeks, Merlin finally made a reappearance.

It was quite late in the afternoon, late enough to be classed as the evening when Merlin sauntered through Arthur's door unexpectedly. In typical Merlin style, he did so without knocking.

Arthur was once again at his desk reviewing the same speech he had been scanning through that morning. It was to draw inspiration for another one he was due to write as the one in front of him had seemingly gone down well.

"Merlin!" he expressed; the joy not very well hidden in his voice. Arthur didn't care if Merlin heard it or not, he was just glad to finally see him. It had felt like forever since the banquet.

Only a very small amount of fuzziness accompanied Arthur's voice as Merlin heard him say his name.

"Yes, I do believe that's my name." he responded wittily, closing the door to his favourite royal prat's chambers.

"You're back," Arthur stated as if that wasn't any more obvious. "Honestly, Merlin. I thought you'd never return."

Merlin got the majority of that. "As if you'd let me get away that easily," began Merlin, not realising how deep the truth lay in his joking words. "I take it you got the message from Gaius?"

"Oh, I got the message. And I take it my people are well thanks to you and Gaius?"

"Well, mostly Gaius. He's the physician, after all." Merlin replied, not even taking notice of the little fuzziness that remained in his ears. He was well and truly near his recovery thanks to both his friends and, of course, his magic.

"Come now, Merlin. I'm sure you did something useful seeing as you've done nothing of the kind here all day." sarcastically replied Arthur, hoping Merlin would pick up the joke.

"Excuse me, I was the one making remedies to cure your people, you royal prat." Merlin responded with equal wit.

That alone told Arthur that Merlin had in fact picked up on his joking tone.

"Very well, I see you've done something useful after all…" then Arthur realised something. "…wait, you've been back to make remedies?"

Unfortunately, that was a little too quiet for Merlin, who made a confused expression in response.

By this point, Arthur was able to instantly recognise what that face meant. "You've been back?" he uttered, changing his words to make it easier for Merlin.

"Oh, yes. A few times, actually. We underestimated the amount of potion we needed." answered Merlin to a slightly bewildered Arthur, who was sat in surprise as to how he'd missed Merlin coming back into the castle.

"Well, you must have snuck in without clattering about like you normally do, since I was unaware of this." Arthur responded, smiling fondly afterward.

"Whatever you say, Sire." Merlin said, making his way to Arthur's bed as he realised it had not been made. He thought he might as well do some of his duties as Arthur's manservant even if they were a bit late in the day.

"Your bed hasn't been made, didn't George do it?" enquired Merlin, thinking that George had been with Arthur all day.

"No. He fetched me breakfast, that was about it." Arthur answered honestly.

The royal prat was starting to sound clearer to Merlin the more he spoke, despite some fuzziness here and there. "So you've been manservant-less all day?"

"You could put it that way, yes."

"Aw," started Merlin with a clear hint of mockery in his voice. "Poor you. No one to clean your armour or muck out your horses, all of which are yours, by the way." Merlin smirked as he neatened the pillows on Arthur's bed.

It seemed that one morning and most of an afternoon had not altered Merlin's wit in any way, and Arthur loved it. He let out a laugh that Merlin was able to distinguish as the same sound that usually came from Arthur whenever he sassed him.

"It seems I was right." the King stated from his desk, his sudden shift in tone caught Merlin's attention. The raven-haired man turned from what he was doing and looked to Arthur, who was just rolling up a scroll.

Arthur then exchanged looks with his manservant with his warm, blue eyes. "You aren't ever going to change, are you?" he said, smiling at the end.

That was probably the clearest thing that Merlin had heard all day. A day that he'd spent mostly in the small houses at the lower end of Camelot, trying to ignore the harsh clashing sounds of potion jars that occasionally bashed together and the odd squealing of a child. He was somewhat glad that the suffering noises of the citizens he and Gaius tended to were mostly drowned out, knowing that it would break his heart.

So, the clearness in Arthur's voice and the meaning in his words he found to be a blessing.

In response, he pretended to think for a moment, smiled, and shook his head. As if to say "No, never." without words, just in his own Merlin-ish way. He then turned back to fixing the bed and was about to ask Arthur if anything else needed doing when the King spoke himself.

Arthur had ascended out of his chair, scroll in hand with several lines highlighted with a quill in the other hand. He made his way over to Merlin.

"Now, I know you haven't been here all day, but I've had to start making preparations for a speech."

Merlin didn't realise that Arthur had moved and so was a little surprised when he turned around to find him out of his chair. "A speech? What for?"

"For the tournament next week." clarified Arthur. Merlin then remembered what Arthur was talking about and guessed out-loud as to what he was going to say next.

"Ah, yes. I assume you've been looking at this one for inspiration?" he indicated to the scroll in Arthur's hand.

"Precisely," began Arthur, handing it to Merlin. "I have made clear a few elements I would like to include in my new one, I think they really worked last time."

Merlin rolled out the scroll and stared upon the underlined parts of the speech, Arthur stood not far from him and watched in anticipation, he observed as Merlin's features morphed into realisation.

"Yeah, they would've worked last time since I wrote this." Merlin stated after only reading a few lines, easily remembering his work.

"Which is why I'm asking for your help on my new speech." the King asked his friend with a grin, knowing he would only ever ask Merlin for help on speech writing. He was strangely talented when it came to the matter.

"Are you asking for my help or demanding it?" the manservant asked playfully, already knowing the answer.

"Put it this way: no other servant gets to help a King write his speeches." Arthur reminded him in honesty. "You don't have to though, if you feel…" he couldn't finish his words for Merlin had interrupted him.

"No, no, I'll write one. Truth is, it'll get me off whatever Gaius wants me to do tonight." Merlin said, hoping Arthur would realise that he would've written one anyway. He appreciated that Arthur also said that he didn't have to. Luckily for him, Merlin didn't mind.

"Well then, I'm sure you'll come up with something great, you have done so far," Arthur motioned to the scroll Merlin was now holding. He then made the short distance back to his desk and took hold of an empty golden scroll for Merlin to write on. "You might need this." he added, giving it to the younger man.

"Oh, yes," started Merlin, rearranging himself now he was holding both scrolls. "I can't just write on any old scroll; it has to be one from the royal desk." he uttered in sarcasm. Arthur smiled in return.

He moved on to perform his usual duties within Arthur's chambers which had felt different ever since he went deaf. Merlin wasn't sure why they felt different other than his deafness, but that wasn't just it. He thought perhaps it was Arthur's presence and the things he was saying that made it feel different.

Over the course of the last few days, Merlin had come to admire the extent of Arthur's care for him. Adapting their usual routine for his benefit and safety, insisting that he got to rest, and even the little things, such as changing the way he communicated with him through the worst days, were all incredibly meaningful to Merlin.

Merlin already did a lot for Arthur that was currently unknown to the man himself, maybe one day he would come to appreciate those things. But for now, Merlin was going to help him with this speech, as a way to thank him for all he'd done.

Even if he was still a prat in the process.

The night drew in with the more reports that Arthur read, chattering away to Merlin throughout it. They spoke about anything, with it hardly ever being about the 'important' documents scattered over Arthur's desk. At one point, Merlin fetched Arthur's dinner. It came to the time not long before Merlin was usually dismissed when the blond stated he could go early so he could get started on the speech. The King once again relayed the message to his manservant that he didn't have to if he wasn't feeling up to it but the younger man refused, jokingly saying: "Even if you wrote it, you'd have me check it over and probably rewrite for you it in a second."

Arthur knew he wasn't wrong and so gave Merlin a smile that left the words "Thank you, you great dollop-head." hanging in the air for the manservant to catch.

Which, of course, he did.

Merlin swung the door open to his and Gaius' shared chambers and gazed upon his mentor, who was mixing a potion by gently shaking it.

"Ah, Merlin," Gaius greeted in his rough worn voice. "I'm glad you're here, my arm is getting ever so tired doing this." he finished, setting down the potion on his workbench.

The implicating tone in the physician's voice and his actions left Merlin with the same idea as Gaius', so he had to inform him of his other plans.

"Sorry, Gaius," Merlin responded as he shut their door. "I happen to have another task tonight." The warlock placed the scrolls down for Gaius to see and looked up to his mentor's face.

"He's got you writing another speech for him? Honestly, Merlin. You do too much for that man." Gaius stated, putting away the potion he'd been mixing.

"Gaius, it's the least I can do. He's been less…clotpoley lately. Ever since you know what." Merlin responded truthfully.

"Yes, I suppose he has." Merlin had told Gaius about the training grounds fiasco, and the event in the armoury. The old physician had even seen the King's care first-hand at the banquet.

"Well, you'd better write by candlelight in your room, and quietly. I'm retiring early." Gaius uttered, making his way over to where he kept his nightclothes. The day's affairs had worn him out.

Merlin didn't quite catch all of Gaius' words as he was fumbling about looking for ink and a quill. He turned to see his mentor preparing himself for slumber.

"What about the potion?" asked Merlin.

"I shall continue it in the morning, I haven't the strength now." Gaius responded, tiredness echoing in his voice which Merlin was able to pick up on.

Merlin smiled and decided to let the old man rest, knowing his exhaustion from their work throughout the day. How he wished those people could've come to Gaius instead, it would've been a lot easier for him.

The young warlock then retired to his own part of their chambers, lit a candle, and took his inked quill in hand and started scribbling on the empty scroll, he'd already been thinking of ideas ever since he took the not-so-subtle hint from Arthur.

The night only grew darker as Merlin wrote more. When he felt he'd finished, he left the speech on the side for the ink to dry and retired to bed himself.

Merlin fell asleep thinking about how he could just about hear the scratching of the quill's end against the paper as he wrote. It would've been stupid to anyone else but not to Merlin, who knew that his magic would likely have his hearing fixed by the time he woke up.

He'd just have to wait and see what the next day would bring.


	10. Limpidity

The early morning sunlight bled through Merlin's window and settled onto his pale face when the next day came, prompting the warlock's eyes to flicker open. Slowly, Merlin began to awaken properly and judging by how he was feeling, he able to figure out that this was not his ordinary awakening hour.

His feelings of discomfort would fade, however, when he remembered one little thought that he went to bed with.

Merlin sat up in his bed as if he'd just been startled and made to grab a book off of the floor. The whooshing sounds of the sheets being yanked away were clear as day to him but that was not what he was listening out for.

Holding the book in his hand, Merlin very carefully traced a nail over the spine and listened out for the scratching sound he knew should've joined it.

He noticed the difference immediately.

Merlin recalled the sound of the quill's end from the older night as he wrote away at Arthur's speech. He recalled his own little elation at the idea of being able to hear finer sounds again as drifted to sleep. The quill he could just about make out but this, Merlin could hear completely.

There was no ringing or buzzing, not even a faint buzzing. His head jerked up in the direction of his window as one clear sound replaced another.

He'd heard bird songs outside his window over the last few days, each day's song being sharper than the older. This was the clearest they'd been since the hunt.

Exhilaration bubbled within the pit of his stomach at the revelation.

His magic had cured the rest of his hearing overnight, just like how he'd predicted.

"Thank God." he thought. Everything could go back to normal now. Well, as normal as life was for the man also known as the 'greatest sorcerer to ever walk the Earth' who was living in Camelot.

In his excited daze, Merlin forgot about the fact that it was still early in the morning and headed for the door to greet his mentor with the news. He flung it open expecting to see the older man mixing the same potion from last night, only to stumble into the main quarters on him still sleeping.

The ward was about to shout a cheery "Good morning!" which he hadn't done in a while but was able to stop himself upon seeing Gaius sleeping. As quietly as he could, Merlin turned on his heels to head back into his own room, not counting on a perched broom getting in his way.

With a loud clank, the broom hit the floor, making Merlin both cringe at the sound that should've surely woken Gaius, and smile at the fact that he could hear it with no issue.

"Merlin, what are you doing?" a calm but also distinctively annoyed voice called from across the shared quarters. Merlin slowly turned back around and met eyes with Gaius, who was now lazily sat upright in his bed. He couldn't believe how clear Gaius sounded given his distance from him, there was no buzzing accompanying his question either.

"Uhm, you know, getting breakfast…" replied Merlin, trying to conceal the knocked over broom that lay next to him.

Gaius raised an eyebrow at Merlin's terrible attempt at hiding what he saw him do. "That broom won't pick itself up, you know." he stated whilst lifting himself out of the bed.

Now it was Merlin's turn for the witty remark. "No, unless I make it." he turned and smiled at his mentor, hoping he wouldn't get slapped for the magic joke. Luckily, Gaius was too far away.

It took a second for the physician to realise that his ward didn't seem to be lipreading or pausing very much before answering him.

"You can hear me?" he finally said, hoping it to be true.

Merlin had bent down to pick up the broom and didn't bother to stand up again before turning to face Gaius. "Yes, all too clearly in fact."

Gaius felt his lips peel back into a smile. He was elated that Merlin's hearing was back, having full knowledge of the mental toll his ward had been through over the last couple of days. He could also plainly see the young man's quirk and cheeriness at this fact, even if he'd tried to sheepishly hide knocking a broom over.

But that was just what Merlin was like, and it was one of the reasons why Gaius loved Merlin as if he were his own son.

"That's very good, Merlin," Gaius admitted as he went behind a screen to change into his daytime robes. "I'm sure Arthur will be happy with the news."

"What, so he can take me on another hunt?" Merlin answered sarcastically from afar, deciding to actually start preparing breakfast for the two.

"I doubt you'll go on another hunt this week," replied Gaius, emerging from behind the screen. "But even if you do, Arthur will probably keep a closer eye on you."

Merlin didn't answer and continued making the breakfasts, carrying them over to the table once he was done. He sat himself down and waited for Gaius to join before starting.

"I wish that he knew I'm capable of defending myself."

Gaius paused a moment whilst rummaging through the many vials on his workbench and looked in Merlin's direction. A hint of sadness creased the young man's features and the older man knew all too well why.

"He knows that you are, otherwise he wouldn't take you with him, Merlin."

The younger man didn't look up from his breakfast. "Yeah, he knows that I can swing a sword around or use a crossbow," Merlin broke up his thoughts and picked up a spoon between them. "But he doesn't know what I can really do."

"Not yet he doesn't," Gaius said firmly from where he stood, intending to get through to his ward. It made Merlin look up from his wallowing thoughts as he faced his mentor, unsurety reflecting in his eyes.

"But he will do, one day. He'll see you for who you are instead of what you are. And right now, I assume what you are is hungry. So, I suggest eating that before I do." Gaius said, pointing the vial in his hand to Merlin's breakfast.

Merlin took in what the physician had said carefully, knowing what he truly meant. Gaius may have been a stubborn old man at times, (or stubborn old goat, as he'd once called him) but he possessed a knack with words. A knack that seemed to work on Merlin, who was now feeling more uplifted thanks to his mentor's words. He knew that the time would come one day for Arthur to find out about his magic. And as confident as the man was in his thoughts, even if it didn't go that way, Merlin knew that Gaius would be there for him.

So, with that knowledge safely kept within him, the younger man smiled at the fatherly physician, which expressed the gratitude he was feeling inside. Gaius saw this and made to join Merlin for breakfast once he'd organised his vials.

During their breakfast, Merlin engaged in a full flowing conversation for the first time in days. It felt weird to him, which wasn't what he was expecting. Gaius performed a couple of mini-assessments at the table to test if Merlin could hear whispering or other sounds, all of which he passed. Giving him the confidence to say that Merlin's hearing had fully returned.

When the pair were almost done with their breakfast, Gaius broke the short silence between them.

"You're sure you won't need any potion to help with head pain?" he asked, referring to Merlin's bruise that appeared the other day.

"No, I'm telling you, that's gone too," Merlin started to answer. He ruffled his hair on the part of his head where they bruise once lay and showed his mentor that what he was saying was true. "See?" Merlin didn't even check in anything reflective to see if the bruise had actually gone, he could just sense that it was no longer there. His magic must've taken care of that too, he thought.

"I do hope Arthur doesn't become suspicious of that." Gaius stated, suddenly concerned about the matter.

"Trust me, he'll be too happy that I'm back to normal to question it." Merlin knew deep-down that he was right, but that didn't stop him from silently praying that the clotpole didn't ask. Even if he did, he'd just have to say that he got lucky, or it was a miracle.

"Fair enough then." replied the old physician to his ward.

Not much time had passed when their short silence was interrupted again, this time by Merlin. He'd been used to near silence for days and didn't like it. Now that he could hear again, he wasn't going to waste the air that was so desperate to be filled with sounds.

"Right, I'm off then." chirped Merlin as he stood to put his breakfast things away.

"You can't wake the King up yet, it's far too early," pointed out Gaius as he himself rose from his seat. "He'll be in a foul mood if you do."

"Believe me, I know that," responded Merlin truthfully. He'd been on the receiving end of Arthur's grumpy moods many times before and they weren't always amusing. Though sometimes, it was the prat's own fault why he was in such a mood in the first place. "And that's not where I'm going, not yet."

"Oh? Then where are you going, Merlin?" inquired the physician, almost in a judgemental tone. One of which Merlin could hear perfectly from where he'd gone. Gaius was confused as to where Merlin would go at this hour. After all, he never did what a servant in his position was supposed to do before awakening the King.

Merlin stumbled out of his own room for the second time that morning and opened his mouth to speak, eyes and ears fully synchronising with each other for the first time in days.

"I just have a few errands to run is all," he responded in honesty, Merlin would get to Arthur when he was ready. "Erm, have you seen my red necker?" Merlin asked, suddenly realising that he wasn't wearing it.

"It's probably in your room on the floor like it always is. One wouldn't believe that you have a cupboard in there." wittily responded Gaius, glad to be able to have a normal conversation with Merlin again. He'd missed it more than he thought he would.

Merlin ran back into his room once more and shouted "Ah, got it!" to his mentor once he'd found the necker in question. He came back out to find Gaius now stood at his workbench clutching the same potion from the last evening.

Gaius spoke without taking eyes off the potion, staring at it deeply to see how much more he needed to mix it. "And what errands are you in need of running today? Aside from your usual duties." asked Gaius, genuinely curious.

"I'm getting some flowers for Gwen, as a way to say thank you for mine." Merlin stated, unashamed.

"Ah, yes. I was here when she dropped them off. It was most kind of her."

Merlin nodded. "Exactly, that's why I'm getting some."

"Well, make sure you're not late for Arthur," Gaius called as Merlin headed for the door, now ready to leave. "And Merlin?"

The man in question turned around just before the door, unsure as to what his mentor wanted.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Gaius said, not alluding to anything in particular.

Merlin thought for a moment, and another moment, and another, until he grasped what Gaius meant.

The speech.

"Ah, yeah," Merlin answered, confirming he and Gaius were on the same page at last. "I'll pick it up before I see the royal prat. He'll probably need it, after all." he replied, the speech would only get in the way of flower picking anyway.

Gaius gave an understanding nod to his ward and the scruffy haired manservant went on his way.

Not very long later, Merlin could be seen walking through the castle halls clutching a small bouquet of flowers. The occasional passer-by would think that the flowers were for a lucky girl that had wooed Merlin's heart, others thought that he was delivering them on behalf of King Arthur, and some even thought they were for the King himself. Whoever it was that was to receive flowers from Merlin, they were obviously worthy. Everyone knew that.

Merlin was turning a corner when he bumped into him. The brunette dark-haired knight, popular amongst the ladies of Camelot. It could only have been Sir Gwaine.

"Oh! Merlin!" Gwaine exclaimed excitedly like a puppy. "You're in a hurry," he pointed out. Then, he looked to the flowers in Merlin's hands. "I wonder who these are for?" the knight asked, making to pretend to grab them from the other man.

Merlin pulled the flowers, and his hands, away. "They're not for you, I can tell you that for free." he replied in a joking tone with not a second of hesitation.

Gwaine blinked. "You can hear me?" he asked, staring intensely and with anticipation at Merlin.

Merlin, on the other hand, didn't answer and proceeded to pull a confused face at the knight.

Gwaine's face dropped the second that Merlin's did. He feared that he was wrong.

"Merlin?" he uttered with clear concern showing in his voice. He would never bother to hide it where his friends were concerned.

The response he got was not what Gwaine had expected. He watched as Merlin's features creased into a smile and saw a laugh come after. It was a typical Merlin laugh, full of charm and sparky awkwardness.

He quickly caught on to what he was doing.

"Oh! You!" Gwaine jokingly scolded, punching Merlin lightly in the arm for the scare. He then joined Merlin in the laughter.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Merlin started once he'd done laughing.

"Don't do that to the princess," Gwaine said, composing himself finally. "You'll end up in the stocks for scaring him."

"Gwaine, you know I'll end up in the stocks either way." replied Merlin. Yet, he had full knowledge that he hadn't been in the stocks for years despite Arthur's threats, which weren't really threats at all.

"You make a good point, my friend," responded Gwaine. He looked again at the small bouquet that took up the manservant's hands. "So, who are these for? The princess?"

Merlin felt something warm erupt from his cheeks but whatever it was faded within seconds as he opened his mouth to respond.

"They're for Gwen, actually," he said, earning a confused looking eyebrow raise from the dark-haired knight. "She got me flowers the other day, this is a 'thank you'." the eyebrow slowly lowered itself on Gwaine's face at his friend's reason.

"Ah, well, that might be difficult for you, Merlin." he stated aloud.

"Oh? Why?"

Gwaine then started to explain to the other man. "She and Elyan were up early this morning, earlier than you no doubt," Merlin listened carefully. "Elyan did tell me where they were going last night, but I was at the tavern and…"

Merlin gave a knowing smile. "I can gather the rest," he said, adding another smile onto the end. "Did he say when they were going to be back?"

Gwaine gave his answer. "I think later this evening, around about the time you should be fetching his majesties royal dinner."

Merlin nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, there goes one part of my plan," he uttered mostly to himself.

He then had an idea.

"Wait, you'll see Elyan when he gets back right? That means you'll see Gwen," Gwaine nodded as he followed Merlin's words. "Would you give these to her and say they're from me? I need to head back to my chambers to fetch something before I wake Arthur."

Gwaine didn't even have to know Merlin's request in full detail in order to agree to do it. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll give these to her." he smiled at Merlin as the other man handed him the flowers.

"And make sure you say they're from me and why." Merlin added, knowing what Gwaine was like.

"Of course, Merlin. Where are you headed now?" the knight asked the servant as he watched him move off to leave.

A beat could've sounded between them. "The armoury. Well, after my chambers, that is."

Gwaine nodded. "Ah, of course," he said. He then called out to Merlin who had walked off in a sort-of hurry. "Will I see you later?"

The raven-haired man called back. "Probably, it depends if that prat lets me go early." Merlin didn't care if the other servants could hear him call Arthur a prat, they knew that he did that all the time. He was the only one that could get away with it unpunished.

Well, sometimes unpunished.

Gwaine laughed in response and went on his way, intending to keep the flowers in his own quarters until he saw Elyan and Gwen later.

Over the last few days, Arthur had been waking up on his own accord, without Merlin dragging him out of bed, or blinding him with the sunlight, or stuffing food into his mouth.

He couldn't lie, ever since the deafness revelation of his manservant, Arthur had been on edge. He would never tell anyone, not even Merlin, of the dreams, no, nightmares he'd been having of the situation.

The picture was always blurry but Arthur could see what was happening just fine. He'd see Merlin on the ground again, that same patch of ground he lay on as the bandit made to swing for him. Although this time, the bandit's weapon swung in full force, and it would cut out there, leaving Arthur looking at an even blurrier picture encased in a terrible ringing noise. He imagined that the noise was similar to what Merlin had been hearing recently and he didn't like it.

He supposed the edginess and intensity from the nightmares scared him enough to wake up before Merlin got to his chambers. Every time he woke up from them, he'd remember that it was just a dream, and in reality, that hadn't happened.

It didn't stop him from worrying though.

The cycle had repeated itself again. Arthur's eyes shot open to his empty chambers, scanning for the familiar form of his manservant, who should be there holding his version of 'breakfast' or even looking for woodworm.

"Oh yeah." Arthur thought in his slightly delirious thoughts from just waking up.

The speech.

He wondered if Merlin had written it yet or if he'd remembered that he said he would.

As Arthur started to get dressed by himself, he concluded that his scruffy manservant wouldn't be turning up to help. So, the King decided to find his friend himself.

It seemed that for a few days now, Arthur had been chasing, (or stomping around,) to find Merlin.

He was definitely the only person he would ever do that for.

Around the same time that Arthur was waking up earlier than usual, Merlin was just entering the armoury with a well-written on scroll in hand. He'd been to fetch it from his chambers and discovered that Gaius wasn't there. Apparently, he'd been summoned to a young man that had broken his leg somewhere in the citadel.

In Merlin's head, he knew he hadn't done a proper job of sharpening Arthur's sword the other day. He just so happened to be distracted by the lack of one of his senses. He also knew that Arthur would probably need it soon, whether it be for training or patrol, or even another hunt.

Merlin shuddered at the thought.

The next time Arthur dragged him along to another hunt, Merlin vowed to be more vigilant. The loss of his hearing for a short while had taught the warlock to rely mostly on his vision to interpret anything. Words, other people's actions, and possible danger.

Plus, it would stop the clotpole from fretting over him if they were ever attacked by bandits again. In a way, he was doing it for both Arthur and himself.

Merlin gazed upon the empty armoury and sat himself down, placing the rolled-up scroll next to him. His plan was to sharpen Arthur's sword and then go and get him up. It was pretty simple, but things never always went to plan in Camelot.

Arthur entered the castle hallways with meaning. He was not angry; he could never be with Merlin given the situation he was in. He was just concerned as to where he was, again.

Merlin should've recovered by now. Arthur knew this. He had to see if it was true.

His feet took him in the direction of Merlin and Gaius' shared chambers as Arthur's instinct told him that he must still be there. What he didn't interpret was bumping into Sir Gwaine. The feeling of déjà vu struck again within the King.

"Have you seen Merlin?" Arthur asked his knight after their short greetings with each other.

Gwaine nodded knowingly. "Yes, actually. I saw him not too long ago,"

Arthur studied the other man, trying to see if he was alluding to where Merlin could be. He got nothing from it.

"He told me he was heading to the armoury, probably to sharpen your sword no doubt." he finished.

Gwaine gave no tone that submerged his words in a bad pit. Yet, panic started to build within Arthur.

After all, the last time Merlin was in the armoury by himself, it hadn't gone well, at all.

"If you'll excuse me, princess, I have my own things to do." Gwaine said, giving him a smile and walking off. Arthur thanked him for his servant's whereabouts and started walking to the armoury.

A little while later, a happy Gwen would receive a small yet gorgeous bouquet of flowers and the knowledge of where they came from. She wasn't upset that Merlin hadn't given them to her himself since she knew how busy he was, running around after Arthur all the time.

But she knew that over the last few days, it had been more of the other way around.

Arthur turned the final corner before the armoury and prepared himself, hoping to God that he didn't see a repeat from the other day.

His thinking was illogical, he knew this. Merlin's hearing would've healed fully by now, as far as he knew he hadn't left the castle since he last saw him so nothing could've possibly hindered that. So, there was no reason that Merlin would be crashing two swords together that were heavy even for a battle-hardened knight once he entered the armoury.

Gods, he just didn't want to see that again.

Step by step, Arthur became closer to the open door. His ears listened out for the dreaded sound of the chiming swords but they were left unfilled. As he grew closer, he noticed that the only sound he could hear was the distant sharpening of a sword.

Without realising it, Arthur picked up the pace. He took a hold of the wall around the door and swung his body to face the inside of the armoury.

There sat Merlin, calm, and collected for about half a second until he spotted Arthur, which led him to become startled by his sudden appearance.

"Do you like scaring me or something?" Merlin quipped from where he was sat. This led to Arthur giving him a questioning look as if he wasn't entirely convinced of something.

"No, you just happen to be a bit of a wimp." replied Arthur, trying to ignite their usual banter. He made his way to sit next to Merlin.

The image was almost identical to the first day in the armoury after the incident, only it was mirrored. Arthur sat on Merlin's side and Merlin on Arthur's.

"I was coming to wake you up once I'd finished this. I didn't bank on you coming to find me."

"Well, I certainly didn't expect to find you here." Arthur said honestly.

"I can't avoid the armoury forever, it's part of my job, you prat."

The small exchange between them was enough for Arthur to conclude that Merlin could fully hear again. He didn't hesitate, he didn't look up from the sword, and his answers all made sense. Well, as much sense as Merlin could make.

Arthur rapidly changed the subject at hand. "Your hearing, it's come back, hasn't it?" he uttered, trying to mask the excitement within his voice.

Merlin still picked it up anyway, as observant as ever. He smiled downward and looked up at Arthur. "I think it might have since I can hear a clotpole next to me just fine."

Arthur wanted to shout "That's wonderful!" or "I'm so happy you're okay!" but expressing himself completely in front of others was still something that Arthur Pendragon was working on, even if it was to Merlin, the person he could be himself around the most.

"That's great, Merlin," he finally replied. "It really is. Now, we have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yeah, let's just hope we don't run into any bandits next time." expressed Merlin.

"Unlikely. But still, we'll be more ready. Myself included."

"Thanks, Arthur."

The two shared a moment where they just stared into each other's eyes, both unsure what to say. The unstated words that lay in-between filled the silence. One was eternally grateful to have the other back to his normal self, fully recovered. The other was grateful for the other's presence and unspoken promise of protection.

Arthur broke the silence when he noticed the scroll next to Merlin.

"Ah! Is that what I think it is?" Arthur motioned next to Merlin where the scroll lay.

Merlin nodded. "Indeed. It only took the better part of an hour, which is quicker than any speech you've ever written yourself."

"And longer than the time it usually takes you to 'correct' them." acknowledged Arthur as he was handed the scroll by Merlin. The other man shot him a playful glare. While his usual banter with the prat over the last few days had been fun, it hadn't felt entirely the same on his end. Now, however, it did, and it was a very welcome feeling.

The blond-haired man unraveled the scroll and began reading its written contents whilst Merlin continued to sharpen the sword in his hand.

Merlin started rambling about something that he found interesting. Arthur was trying his best to keep up but unfortunately, most of Merlin's words washed over him. He was far too engrossed in the speech he was reading.

Of course, the speech was perfect. Too perfect in fact to be written by the likes of Merlin when he was still injured for God's sake. He could just picture Merlin reading it to the massive crowd instead of him. Arthur imagined how his voice would curl around the words, giving the ones that needed emphasising the most the power they needed. Merlin would do that and do it greatly.

He hadn't realised that he was basically daydreaming until the other man in the room snapped him out of it. When Arthur returned to Earth, he looked to Merlin and saw that his free hand had snapped its fingers together in an attempt to get the King back. Any other servant would've been punished for such rudeness, but not Merlin. Never Merlin.

"I assume it's good then?"

Arthur paused for a moment before responding. "I suppose it'll do, I'll have to use it now since you've gone through the trouble of writing it," Arthur jested, knowing that Merlin would understand what he really meant. "Thank you, Merlin." he added to the end unconsciously.

Merlin looked up. "Oh, you know, all in a day's work, or night's if you want to be precise."

Arthur laughed at that and Merlin joined him, turning back to continue with the sword.

Sometime later, Arthur was still with Merlin in the armoury. They were just talking about anything, literally anything. It didn't matter to Merlin, because talking meant he was listening, and listening meant he was hearing at last.

"You're not to hide anything like that from me again, do you understand?" Arthur said with a hint of command lingering in his voice, he did mean it, after all.

Merlin hesitated a little, thinking back to his many reasons as to why he'd tried to hide his deafness at first, especially from Arthur. He decided that now wasn't the best time to fight him on the matter, it would only lead to confusion at the royal's end.

"I won't, I'm sorry that I did." the manservant responded to his King.

"That's quite alright, Merlin. Although I will take some of the blame, I failed to protect you."

"Don't beat yourself up, prat. I'm still here, aren't I?"

Arthur blinked. "Yes, you are. Back to your usual incompetent self." It wouldn't have been Arthur speaking if an insult wasn't uttered after a heartfelt statement.

"Exactly," Merlin responded, accepting it. "And that's down to you and the others being by my side, I'm thankful for that."

"Well, you'd do the same for them as you would for me." Arthur expressed truthfully, knowing full well that Merlin would've done the same if it were the other way around.

He was about to say more when another servant appeared at the door, his attention completely on Arthur.

"Sire, you're wanted by the council. They have a few questions for you regarding the matters from the last meeting."

Arthur nodded to him, acknowledging his service. "Tell them I'll be there shortly." the servant bowed from the door and went on his way.

Arthur turned back to Merlin, who had been watching the other servant too. "Duty calls," he started as he rose from where he sat. "Will you join me?"

Merlin looked to the sword he was still holding. "This wants doing. I'll finish it first, then I'll be there."

"Fair enough," Arthur said, rolling the scroll back up and heading for the door.

Just before leaving, Arthur wanted to make something clear to Merlin, for the idiot's sake as well as his own. After all, Arthur would never let anything bad happen to his closest friend and couldn't stand the idea of Merlin hiding things from him.

"I hope you were listening when I said you're not to hide things like this from me again?"

Merlin smiled since he knew that Arthur's underlying intentions in his words were only concerned with his personal safety. "Yes, don't worry, clotpole, I know."

Arthur smiled in relief in Merlin's direction, finally taking in that his Merlin was back to normal.

"That's good. We can't have you walking about injured, can we?" Arthur said playfully.

Merlin smiled again, this time looking up at Arthur from his seat. "No, I suppose not." he said in sarcasm.

Arthur revisited Merlin and punched him lightly in the arm, earning a look from the other man. "Remember," Arthur started as he turned for the door. "You can't hide anything from me, Merlin." he finished with a spark of tenderness. Afterward, Arthur gave one of his infamous sunlit smiles and exited the armoury to the council where he was needed.

Merlin watched Arthur and his smile disappear from sight, he felt a small one of his own form on his lips with only a tiny hint of remorse accompanying it.

"Wouldn't dream of it."


End file.
